Human Misconception
by Oombala
Summary: After a movement led from Earth starts a war that ravages the solar system, the Solar Royalty must recruit help from none other than themselves. AU
1. The Battle of the Gods

"Mamoru," a hiss of fear slipped through her lips. He was here, protecting her by fighting off these new monsters created by their equally twisted ruler. It was obvious he could not defend her as his position was delicate. She knew that as Earth's prince, Beryl was his aunt, but here he was, going against his family—for her. Her eyes filled with tears at an abrupt realization, he was going to die if he stayed here.

"Usagi!" She spun around to see her brother running toward her, staff in hand as he brandished it about. "Look out!" Usagi watched in horror as Mamoru was slowly consumed by the darkness. Monsters piled atop his past location, covering his body in a pulsing mass of black and red before it disappeared. Quatre knew then, that it was too late. Nothing could save Mamoru now. "We have to leave." He had seen the Shittennou succumb to what they had been fighting, the monsters fed on the souls as the bodies were possessed. Hurriedly, he pulled Usagi toward the glowing white transporter, covering her eyes as they ran. A clicking of buttons and they were gone.

~[](*)[]~

"Zoisite, _please_." She was in so much pain. She was begging him and she had never begged before in her conscious life. Then again, she had never been put in this position before. No matter how much she lowered herself, he didn't seem to care and Ami couldn't stand it. She wouldn't stand for this.

"What's this, little princess? Giving up already?" The once welcoming verdant green stung like poison as his glare pierced her heart. His lips turned up in a smirk as he stepped closer, his boots crushing broken crystal as he stepped on the remnants of the vase she'd kept on her bookcase.

Ami drew in a breath. She moved toward him, pointedly ignoring his gaze, a heavy fog rising up from the ground. Zoisite looked around, grinning. He walked closer to her and placed his hand on her cheek. He pulled her chin upward, forcing her to make eye contact with him. He pressed his cheek to hers before she shoved him away as the water in the air condensed. His sweet demeanor disappeared once more.

"You're going to fight me? But Ami, I thought you _loved_ me," he snickered, feigning hurt.

A pang ran rampant through her nerves at the word. She pressed a hand to her head as she tried to ignore what it meant. She turned to him, eyes cold.

"I love Usagi more."

~[](*)[]~

Lightning surged from her fingertips, tingling as she released it into the room. She moved quickly, acting almost like the very thing she wielded. Suddenly Nephrite disappeared from her vision and she felt metal press into her side, not quite cutting her.

"Little Rose," he whispered, his free arm encased her causing her breathing to hollow as she fought with her emotions. He pressed a kiss to her temple, his low timbre tickling the inside of her ear. "Why do you struggle so much? You're like a frightened rabbit," he nibbled on her earlobe as he pulled her back against him. Her brain sent frantic messages throughout her body, yelling at her to pull away but her resolve was melting. He was saying that she could be with him forever. Why should she even bother? "I love you so much, I will take care of you and we will live long under Queen Beryl's rule." The whisper was barely audible, but the words struck a chord in Makoto.

"Nephrite," she turned in his arms as he pulled her in for a kiss.

~[](*)[]~

There had been nothing sweet between the gold and silver. Minako and Kunzite were at each other's throats as soon as he had dared step foot in her bedchamber. The tension was high as they struck blades over and over again, Minako pulled back, aiming her fingers before she shot a _Crescent Beam_ at him. Kunzite grunted as it hit his shoulder, the first damage done throughout their makeshift battle. His eyes narrowed at her and he quickly threw himself back into the battle as she hesitated. Her gaze on his wound was sad and even guilty. It was apparent that she was obviously unsure about this, still. She looked at him, trying to convey her emotions to him but the previously effortless communication was shut down. He would not give in to her, and she would not give in to him. They were both leaders, and neither would ever succumb.

~[](*)[]~

Death, pain, and Jadeite. So many things were happening at once. Rei was going insane as she streaked down the hallway, throwing fireballs blindly over her shoulder. The cackling that followed her was demonic to say the least. She had always loved his laughter, albeit unwillingly. She knew that she could never really deny him anything. Despite her efforts to avoid it at all costs, Rei had to admit that she loved Jadeite. She loved everything about him, usually, just not while he was trying to kill her, take over the Moon, enslave the Solar System, and create a tyranny. Otherwise, they'd be golden.

Rei couldn't help but be sarcastic. Her already cynical persona was encouraged by the current environment. She had made a pact against men and look at what happened. She should have just secluded herself and fried Jadeite's ass the first time he smacked her butt.

"Come here, little phoenix," Jadeite crooned as she scrambled toward the throne room. He sent a shot toward her leg and she went down screaming obscenities. She glared at him and set blaze after blaze at his face, effectively blinding him and putting him on defense. She leapt to her feet, cringing as she put weight on her injured leg.

"I see you could use a little help," Wufei muttered in her ear as he helped her along. He sent up a wall of magic fire to help their escape. Jadeite watched their shadowy figures through the flames, eyes narrowing.

~[](*)[]~

Zoisite lay on the floor, his verdant eyes squinted as he followed Ami's movements. She was obviously exhausted, their battle had been a hard one. But in a moment of 'weakness' his possession had faded and she'd gotten in a direct hit. It didn't matter now; he was Zoisite, messenger and warrior. Despite all of this, he still fought the person he swore to protect and to love. "I can keep myself frozen here for approximately twenty minutes, I will fight the urge to kill you." He smiled at her, the once happy expression twisted with the emotions he felt and the want that drove both of them to each other. Ami tiptoed toward him, keeping her hand on his back to freeze him if he were to attack.

She leaned down, her lips at his, "I love you."

"Ami!" Heero's commanding voice echoed from the hallway. Ami's watering eyes stared into Zoisite's. Heero rushed into the room, his trident pointed at the man on the ground.

"Go," he whispered, his lips touching hers. Heero's hand grabbed her shoulder as they ran to the throne room, a trident of ice left behind as it pinned the man's body to the desecrated ground. Zoisite stared at the empty door before letting out a terrifying scream, his body was healing around the ice that pierced his body. The power Beryl funneled into him causing his strength to replenish and his body to heal. The sudden influx of energy filled his head with the dark. His will to fight the poison in his mind drying up as he wasn't faced with Ami anymore. Twenty minutes was dwindling into twenty seconds.

~[](*)[]~

"I love you," Makoto whispered. Her lips touched Nephrite's as she let out a devastating shock. Trowa leaped into her room from the doorway at the loud reply, a shimmering lightning lance swinging as he and Makoto surrounded the floored man. Nephrite stood back up, his body suffering from the attack Makoto dealt.

"You both use the same element, you think I don't know how to combat this? I've been training with you both since birth," Nephrite's limbs flexed as his armor rippled and changed colour. "Come at me."

The twins charged Nephrite, his hands tight as he gripped the weapons he materialized. He swung at them, still fighting, the offer he'd given Makoto now lost under the blind fury Beryl fed him. Trowa attacked, his lance launching him around the room as he blocked and counterattacked. Makoto drew on her secondary power, the pink petals swirling in the air as she concentrated. If Nephrite was protecting himself against the lightning both twins knew fondly then she was going to attack him with what she knew to be an underestimated thing. She unleashed the pink petals, Trowa's contract with Jupiter keeping him safe from the flurrying danger. Nephrite's body was being ravaged, quickly both twins made for the door.

"Makoto!" Nephrite yelled, his voice ragged as his body was battered. "I'm sorry, but know, that I love you enough to remember."

Makoto kept running, and so did the tears down her face. Trowa's strong arm gripped her own as they sped toward the meeting place.

~[](*)[]~

When Duo made his way into Minako's bedroom, the battle was still on full force, both now wielding swords as Minako's energy blasts still dealt damage. Kunzite may not have been overpowering Minako, but he was lasting and she was tiring. Duo's golden scythe spun in his hand as he leapt into the fray, his hands firm as he attacked Kunzite from behind. Kunzite's strength began to dwindle as the golden pair wore at him, the strength they displayed running him down when he let out a shout and a pulse of energy soared outward, knocking both of them down. His position as a leader allowed him to welcome the power more easily as he took advantage of the new source. Kunzite's sword suddenly became two as he handily attacked his two opponents. Duo took advantage of the longer range of his scythe, his and Minako's attacks taking place from farther away as they danced around him. Kunzite landed several hits before the over flowing power began to take a toll on his body. Minako descended upon him as he struggled, toppling him over and adding just a bit more energy to overwhelm his consciousness.

"Minako, I'm sorry," Kunzite whispered. The blood that flowed from his body pulsing as the energy Beryl forced into him tried to draw it back in. "I cannot express how I feel for you, I never could, properly anyway."

"I know you love me, Kunzite. And that's all I needed."

~[](*)[]~

Rei shrieked at Jadeite angrily when she saw him appear in the throne room, still looking a little worse for wear. Wufei shoved her behind him only for her to snort indignantly before running forward to attack Jadeite anyway. The others converged upon teleportation device, watching Rei's battle in their peripherals. They knew that they couldn't help her or Wufei. Heero's eyes watched the battle carefully, never ceasing to grip on the smaller throwing trident he had created upon entering the room.

"I don't care what you want to do, or who rules you, I never loved you."

Jadeite froze at Rei's words. His eyes flickering as the hurt she dealt penetrated the fog.

"You did, though," his words were soft. "You loved me, and no matter what I do, or who rules me, I will always love you." He raised his hands and threw the small axe he held. Heero's trident met it in the air and they both crashed to the ground. Jadeite looked at Heero and glared. "You never liked me, and I know why. But good luck, even now, I win."

The other three generals ran in through the doorways, armed and seemingly refreshed. The planetary princes shoved their sisters into the teleporter before pressing a combination of buttons. Their eyes watched their opponents as they too entered the transporter. Another figure entered the room, causing the four men to pause.

"Endymion." And with a series of buttons, they were gone.

~[](*)[]~

Rewritten! Ages are the same.

Setsuna- 23

Haruka-22

Michiru- 22

Heero- 19

Wufei and Rei- 18 ½

Duo- 18 ½

Usagi- 18 ½

Hotaru- 18

Quatre- 17 ¾

Makoto and Trowa- 17 ¾

Minako- 17 ½

Ami- 17


	2. A Council

Still don't own BSSM or GW/AC, not to worry, it's a work in progress.

"They're dead, they're dead," Minako hyperventilated as she clutched at the pillows lying by her head.

"Not yet they're not."

All five princesses whipped up to look at the Time guardian. She inclined her head to Usagi slightly.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything of importance," with a hesitant smile, Setsuna strode forward and sat on the edge of Minako's bed. "They're not dead, only imprisoned. The only chance we have of saving them is purging their souls of all evil, and that is obviously going to be a challenge." Setsuna waved her hand and map of sorts appeared in her grasp. "You see all the planets on this map are marked with a red X correct?" Her index finger slid across the paper to point at each crimson mark.

"Yes, but wha—" Setsuna cut off Usagi with another wave of her hand.

"Every planet in our solar system, sans my own, and until today; the moon, have been attacked. The question is not why, but how."

"I concur. It seems that Earth has gained a large amount of power in an extremely short period of time. How this happened, we need to figure out. We also need to learn about those creatures, I have never read about any of this before. Apparently what we face is something completely new."

"Well spoken." Setsuna's approving gaze caused Ami's cheeks to redden.

"Ami's right," Heero stepped out of the shadows smoothly, all the girls except Setsuna and Ami started at his sudden appearance. "On all my visits to Earth, I had only seen an army at the same caliber of our own. Of course, their numbers were much less."

"But that would be a disadvantage. With the other attacks, their lower amount would lessen even more. However, when they attacked the moon, the soldiers were overwhelming, far outnumbering our own. It's only a matter of time before our entire army is decimated." Duo's words resonated throughout the room, echoing off the high ceilings to return with a vengeance. He stepped closer to his sister, taking Minako into his arms as she leaned into him. Quatre paused at the door before awkwardly knocking on the open door.

"I see we're having a discussion, am I allowed to participate?" His simple question brought everyone back to the present, dragging them from darker thoughts.

"Of course Quatre," Usagi welcomed her brother with a smile, patting the seat next to her. Quatre sank into the cushions, nearly falling into Makoto in the process. Trowa chose then to step into the room. After scowling in Quatre's general direction, he just shook his head before taking a spot next to Ami.

"This doesn't help the fact that we left Nephrite there," Makoto seemed rather distressed as she pulled at her curls.

"Who cares about them! They attacked us! It's just like I always said, you can never trust men." And with that and a flourish that spun her skirt, Rei stood and left.

"Rei, wait!" Makoto jumped to her feet in an attempt to follow, but Usagi pulled at her arm and shook her head.

"Just let her be. You know she was more in love with Jadeite than she ever would have liked. We all loved them, but evidently, that wasn't enough." Usagi gulped loudly as she rubbed her eyes, her white gloves darkening with tears. Quatre attempted to soothe his sister by rubbing her shoulder and making soft noises. "Mamoru's probably dead right now! And if he's not, then he's going to be turned!" Usagi's wails bounced throughout the castle causing Wufei to stumble in the room, sword drawn. After surveying the group, his eyes rested on Usagi. Sighing in understanding, he sheathed his sword and held the bridge of his nose.

"I heard a yell, but obviously it is nothing to be concerned about." Wufei gestured to Usagi, offering her his hand. "You should be off to bed, Princess." Usagi nodded and shakily got to her feet, still sniffling.

"You're right as usual. But I wish to see Rei first."

Wufei nodded and turned to face the others.

"Good night all." He placed his hand on Usagi's upper back and softly led her out the door. All those present waved half-hearted farewells.

The room was silent for a moment as everyone tried to recollect themselves.

"We have to form some plan of attack, or at least try and defend ourselves."

Duo's comment was met with nods of agreement until Trowa spoke up.

"But how are we supposed to do that? Our army is far off, and we have no chance of reaching them. We are well fortified here, but how long is that going to keep us safe? We alone cannot fight off what all our planets fell to. We need help." Silence reigned as everyone looked at either the floor or each other.

"I have an idea," Setsuna raised her hand to grab their attention. Sighing, she stood. "It is possible to collect you from your future reincarnations in order to try and get some help." She turned to Quatre. "You and your warriors are part of an elite group of fighters called Gundam pilots, in a parallel dimension not far from our own. And you, Minako, Makoto, Ami. You, Rei and Usagi are part of a future version of our own Senshi. In that world, they are called Sailor Scouts, and are a separate entity from who you are. Indeed, here you need to transform, but you are innately gifted, you just need something to channel your powers. In a way, whenever these versions of you transform, they are given access to your fighting spirits and abilities." She approached the door. "I will expect to see all of you at the Time Gate tomorrow at noon then. We will dine and then it is time for you to go." Setsuna stepped through the doorway and turned to the left, opposite the other rooms as she walked to the Time Gate. She sat in a chair and angled her staff to cross with the door. Until they were ready, Setsuna would make sure that no one tampered with time.

~[](*)[]~

"I must be going, now, good night." Hotaru left, following a pair of men, Trowa and Duo walking off, Duo's usual gait leaving a swaggering shadow as they left. Quatre stood up, and hugged Minako, pausing under Heero's scrutiny before treating Ami the same way. He stopped in front of Makoto, looking at her closed eyes and tired body, the position next to her on the bed looking more comfortable by the second. Suddenly Makoto's eyes snapped open, she hadn't been asleep. She stared at him curiously, Quatre shuffled from foot to foot, embarrassed at having been caught.

"Good night, Makoto," he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, before dashing off. Heero gave only Ami a brief hug before nodding to the others and taking his leave. "Sleep well."

With all the people gone, the three girls mulled over their thoughts. One was shocked, too stunned by the turn of events to really comprehend what had happened. The second felt both elated and betrayed, and rightly so. Her sense of justice was dropped on its head and she couldn't figure out how to set it right again. However, the chance to do what she loved took root in her mind. The last was stuck. The head once full of knowledge could not see through the facts she already knew. She could not find the best course of action, nothing frightened her more.

~[](*)[]~

Hotaru was walking to her room when she heard crashes coming from Heero's bedroom. Concerned and nonplussed she ventured closer to the cacophony of breaking glass and smashing wood. From the sound of things, Heero wasn't too pleased. She contemplated what to do, her plans to have a small chat with Setsune put off by the mood. What to do? Her thoughts raced, she shuddered as the influx of dead washed over her. People died everyday, every second, but this was a terrible amount. She'd been feeling these every time there was an invasion, every time there was a battle. Every time the repercussions left hungry families and starving children. Steeling herself, she stepped into Heero's room to see what she could do. Perhaps, if she could talk to Heero first, the toughest of the group, she could get a feel for how to deal with everyone else.

~[](*)[]~

"What can we do?" Duo questioned, as he and Trowa walked down the glistening corridors.

"Right now, nothing," Trowa grunted, his mouth pulled back into a scowl. "We have to put faith into these warriors Setsuna spoke of. He looked away. "I had no choice. We could not take Nephrite with us. She asked me as we ran, reiterated her love for him. Maybe, if we'd brought him along we could have cured him and asked him for help." His eyes were downcast as his sullen demeanor accentuated itself.

"Well, you know how it is. With Nephrite out of the picture, well, well, more avenues for the hopeful But you can't be sure that we would have been able to turn him back, and if we hadn't been able to, how would we restrain him? He would have called the armies here and we would be toasted from the inside out!" Duo's voice escalated as he continued, his arms waving wildly. "Yo man, I'm glad that we didn't bring Kunzite, that guy was always an ass to me no matt—" Trowa slammed a hand over Duo's mouth.

"You'll wake everyone," he whispered. They paused at a fork, the two halls heading off in different directions. "Good night, Duo," he said as he made off into the left tunnel, leaving Duo alone in the dark.

Duo stared after Trowa before rubbing his face. Shrugging, he danced down the right hallway. Might as well live it up while he could, right?

~[](*)[]~

I tried to fix this up as best I could, add some little scenes in there to make sure everyone got some spotlight. The idea is that this chapter and chapter 3 are connected. The order of events is hard to follow, I'm sure. I apologize for that. But that's what I wanted. I wanted to add something to what happened from the time when Quatre was in Minako's room to when he was talking to Heero as the time lapse seemed to be kind of empty lol.

Love you all!

-Oombala


	3. Discoveries

Thanks so much for the reviews guys!

This is the remade chapter 3!

And even though I redid this, I still can't claim that I own BSSM or GW/AC

"Please, Ares," a daring droplet of sweat dropped off Rei's hair and landed on her nose with a resounding _plop_. She merely tilted her head forward a bit to encourage the movement of the moisture as it trailed downward. Complying with her wants it slid off her nose and was absorbed into the carpeting below. Her hands twitched as they fought the urge to wipe off the irritating remnants as they beaded together. She tilted her head to the side, her eyelids closing tighter as her lips drew together into a thin line. She could not discern anything in the sacred fire. She saw nothing but fog: dense, unyielding, irritatingly endless fog. Letting out a furious growl, she deflated, contemplating what could possibly happen now. What was she supposed to do? The future was closed off to her, obviously creating a sense of discomfort in the Aresian woman. "Why won't you answer me? I demand you tell me _something_!"

The flames roared in protest, blowing out after they had expressed their rage. Though Rei was connected to fire and was able to manipulate it, she could not control it. Nothing could truly be controlled after all—not life, not emotions, and most definitely not faith.

"Rei?" Usagi inched into the room after the blaze dissipated. Raven locks flew

into the air as Rei turned to face her princess. The frightened look on Usagi's face was enough to calm her tumultuous temper. "What's wrong?" Usagi murmured, concerned.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Rei tried to soothe Usagi, but she failed to keep her trepidation out of her own voice. Usagi was obviously not fooled; however, she merely stepped back out into the hallway.

"I just wanted to wish you goodnight," Usagi's skepticism showed in her tone and her raised eyebrow. Obviously choosing not to press upon matters anymore, Usagi made off to the door. She waved cheerfully as Wufei motioned her to her room, his hands fisted.

"Good night, Usagi, Wufei." Rei dropped her smile when she saw her brother's contemplative face. She started to face the empty fireplace once more when she realized Wufei wasn't leaving.

"Rei, please do not act so friendly with the Princess," Wufei ground out. "We are not to associate with the Lunar Royalty outside professional boundaries."

"Do not tell me how to live my life, Wufei. Usagi is my Princess and always will be, but that does not mean I should alienate her. After all, how can I truly protect someone else without compassion?" Rei's question hung in the air causing Wufei to fidget uncomfortably. Gaining face, he spun toward the door, turning slightly to say his last piece.

"Through duty."

"You need to rest, Serenity," Wufei led Usagi to her bed before stepping an appropriate distance away. He would not let go of the system, not even in private. Usagi sighed sadly. Wufei was not who she needed right now. Wufei was rigid, impeccably a warrior even to a fault. He would not be able to give her the comfort she needed. If only Mamoru was at her side. Usagi let out another sigh, more wistful than the previous. "Is there something wrong Serenity?"

"I wish you would just call me Usagi." She muttered softly, obviously disgruntled. Wufei glanced at her impassively and chose not to reply. She hadn't meant for him to hear it, and so he would not let her know that he had.

"Goodnight, Princess." Usagi flinched at the even more formal gesture.

"Goodnight…Prince Wufei. Goodnight, Mamoru…"

~[](*)[]~

"Can I speak with you, Prince?" Quatre turned to look at Wufei, quickly nodding his approval. Before the tragedy, his generals always seemed to be much more aloof, aside from Duo that is.

"Of course, what did you want to talk about?"

"Do I protect you well?" A small tone in Wufei's voice craved a positive assessment, like a child seeking approval.

"I trust you," Quatre said flippantly oblivious to the underlying question. "You are one of my best warriors, and you are always watching out for any sort of enemy. You are a great protector," he finished. He patted Wufei shoulder awkwardly before following the path to the left. "Until tomorrow morning," He smiled and walked off.

Wufei still did not know the answer to his question.

~[](*)[]~

"I'm lost." The voice was quiet and sad, the only sound penetrating the much emptier room. Only Minako, Makoto, and Ami remained on Minako's bed. The rest of their company had long since dispersed.

"Why, Ami?" Makoto stretched her long limbs and relaxed once more, sinking into the bed sheets.

"I feel empty, hollow, pained." Ami pressed her hand to her chest. "It hurts so much I find it hard to believe it's still beating."

"We feel it too, don' t worry Ami you're not alone," Minako's posture was slumped, downcast even. "I wonder if we did something wrong."

"We did nothing wrong," Makoto mumbled, her face thoroughly smashed into the mattress as she drifted off to sleep. "All I know is that Nephrite and the others went to Earth to keep Beryl at bay. Next thing we know, they're banging down the palace door and killing everyone inside. It's not warp science I'm sure." Her words were strangely lucid for a woman as exhausted as she, however, her next words began to lose their fluidity in a show of her inability to think clearly. "It's not like we turned them ourselves, and well…we…when they came back, they remembered us…and they wanted us to. They wanted us to join them…right?" Her question punctuated itself with her yawn, her mouth opening much wider than what was deemed typical.

"Yes, they remember us and what we had. We did not do anything to change them as people. Who they fight for was not impressed upon them by us, obviously." Ami sat staunchly, her back straight as she kindly pulled a circular restraint out of the auburn mass of hair.

"But why, and how?" Minako could not grasp the concept of betrayal so easily—she was too loyal to even think of treachery.

"I don't know."

Minako and Makoto froze. They had never heard Ami utter those words before, and they hoped they'd never have to.

Evidently those hopes were in vain—one woman's obsession was enough to change the world; and the universe.

[]{~}[]

"Prince," Quatre winced at the formal gesture. No matter what he said, his first and second in command would not speak any more casually.

"Yes, Heero. What is it?" Quatre was truly curious, the group had gone over defensive strategies and possible outcomes, what more did they have to discuss. Obviously it wasn't the Moon's next ball.

"I feel something strange."

Well, that was new.

"Strange?" Quatre waved his hands to encourage Heero to speak more. Heero awkwardly looked away from Quatre's gaze, startling the Prince. Heero never acted this way. As Heero seemed reluctant to respond, Quatre decided to do something rather unorthodox—he grasped Heero's shoulder in a show of camaraderie. The contact was enough to get his attention once more.

"Uh," Heero was struck dumb, but Quatre did nothing but smile back before once again rotating his hands in the universal motion for 'speak.'

"You have nothing to be afraid of. We are brothers at arms and above all, friends. Why do you shy away when you approach me with a problem?" Quatre shrugged in the typical Usagi fashion. "Usagi has me talk things out with her. It works for me, so I figured that it would apply to you as well. I presume I was wrong."

Heero did nothing but stare, before he could open his mouth to speak, Quatre smiled at him warmly once more.

"I'll trade you secrets then," the warm smile did not disappear. Quatre was serious.

"Well, er. I don't know if it's really a secret. I merely do not know what is going on. I feel an aching in my chest." Heero stumbled forward clumsily as if first learning how to speak. Quatre's brows furrowed as he tried to find an explanation. "Whenever I even have the smallest glimpse of Rei my heart pounds ferociously and I think I may be allergic to her perfume as I find it difficult to breathe whenever she is near." The confusion quickly turned into badly hidden glee. "I can't help but stare at her and my stomach quivers. I am easily distracted whenever I hear her voice and I cannot help but be rude to her if she speaks to me. It is instinctual and I cannot stop talking if she is within hearing range. In short, I think I'm ill." At this, Quatre burst out laughing.

"You're not ill, Heero! What in the world gave you that idea?" Quatre could do nothing to suppress his enthusiasm.

"Well, the nausea and the shortness of breath both constitute as reasons to be concerned, Prince. Also, the palpitating of my heart beat and the distracted behavior are points of difficulty that should be treated with caution." Heero's serious gaze startled Quatre. It would almost seem that Heero was upset that Quatre wasn't taking this 'issue' seriously. Quatre had never seen Heero in this situation before, nor had he ever thought he would. Heero was a steadfast man, almost void of all emotion. Quatre was almost hesitant to speak again.

"You are in love_._ Is that word in your extensive Mercurian and Lunarian vocabulary?" Quatre ventured, before letting out a shaky chuckle. "Surely you have read about it, it's quite the common occurrence or so I'm told." He glanced at Heero's reaction to the somewhat astonishing news. He still found it hard to believe Heero was capable of basic emotions much less _love_. Quatre froze when he felt two strong hands grip his upper arms. Heero had grabbed hold of him, his face wild with apprehension.

"Impossible," he whispered. "You shouldn't lie to the people that serve you as well as I."

Without another word, Heero turned away and practically fled the room before Quatre could finish their exchange. Blindly rushing off, he crashed into Trowa before hurrying on toward the safety of his temporary abode.

"What was that all about?" Trowa brushed off his pants as he righted himself. He walked over to sit on a chair facing Quatre. Quatre merely shrugged in reply his innocent expression slightly marred by concern.

"Nothing."

~[](*)[]~

After Trowa had gone, Quatre shuffled to his puffy white bed. As he settled in to sleep, he reflected back on his strange encounter with Heero. Heero's reaction was to be expected. The Hermesian council was not known for its kindness, or its acceptance of human emotion. They had even come up with a failsafe device to create the perfect soldier. Or so they'd claimed. Quatre was hard pressed to believe them. The two Mercurians he was most familiar with were both very stoic. The only truly deep emotion he had seen between them was Ami's interactions with Zoisite, and even those were few and brief. Now this, it seemed almost as though Heero had been _frightened_. Quatre sighed. He had spoken from his heart. He was a firm believer in the power of love and honesty but he was still worried about Heero's actions. Heero never lost composure and he'd _run away_. Quatre didn't know what to do, from his experience, his advise and actions hadn't been well received. Quatre was afraid.

~[](*)[]~

Heero threw a vase full of flowers that withered, before budding again within seconds. The crash echoed through the previously quiet room as Heero reached for another item on his bedside table. His shoulders heaved as he breathed deeply, his teeth clenched as he tried not to scream. Fury and anguish did not even begin to cover the emotions raging in his bloodstream. A quiet knock sounded through the room.

"Heero?" The voice was small and unsure, but it explained flowers' regeneration.

"Come in." The door pushed inward as Hotaru walked into the room. She looked around, her heels tapping as she moved toward him.

" Miss Hotaru," Heero regained his posture instantly. His expression quickly became detached as he eyed the destroyed decor.

"Heero, you shouldn't destroy things that aren't yours," she clicked her tongue as she turned to face him, handling the flowers he'd killed.

"Apparently the whole of Mercury has problems with that."

The short answer was all Hotaru needed to know that she wasn't welcome. She turned tail and walked off to speak with Setsuna. This was not going well.

~[](*)[]~

Thanks so much for bearing with me! This is a redo of this chapter, which I think was necessary. I tried to make the encounter between Heero and Quatre more realistic, hope I got it right!


	4. Hermes' Secrets

It was called to my attention that I have made some of the boy characters more OOC than what is deemed acceptable, and I agree. I'll try to fix this…

Agoraphobia- Thank you for putting these issues out in the open, however, I do have reasons for putting Ami where she is on the 'general' scale.

SmileysBasis- I thank you for your criticism! Please tell me what's wrong grammatically. I really want to fix it. I need to work on my grammar, this is true, but as I don't know what's wrong I can't change it. Your first review was great! It was straight to the point and that's what I need. REVISED, BUT NOT BY MUCH.

_Clang—Clang—Clang—Clang… _The bell tolled a total of twelve times, the harbinger that called the ending of their meal.

"It is time to go," Setsuna stood from the head of the table they were all sitting at. Looks were exchanged at the table. Quatre glanced at Heero nervously. The man had been avoiding him since they had spoken the night before. He winced slightly when he noticed that Heero was glaring at him. That never boded well.

"Can't it wait?" Duo whined as he tried to shovel more food into his mouth. Heero slapped the back of his head as he walked purposefully. "Testy this morning aren't you, sunshine?" Duo muttered as he grabbed a crisp Plutonian pastry for the road.

Quickly, the group made their way toward the time gate and clumped together in their respective gender units. Setsuna put her hand up for a moment, calling their attention. "We will have send you out separately so that you can adjust to the environment easier. Men, you will arrive in a land that is supposedly empty. First you will all go to the world of War, where they use Gundams—"

"Gundams?" Usagi blurted out, effectively cutting off the rest of the explanation. Rei elbowed her princess in the ribs as Setsuna smiled affectionately.

"Yes, Gundams. They are mechanical weapons that are controlled by pilots. Essentially they are giant robots that are directed by our princes here," Setsuna gestured her Garnet Rod toward the cluster of boys that shifted awkwardly.

"So Duo is in charge of a large weapon that is completely and utterly able to destroy things on a vast level?" Makoto put in, shuddering visibly. Setsuna paled.

"Yes, now that I think about it, that was a very bad idea," Setsuna muttered, clearly put out at the thought. She held up her hand to halt Duo's defense. "If you will step forward please, Quatre?"

"I'll go first," Heero walked toward Setsuna who frowned.

"I asked Quatre," she deadpanned.

"And I am testing it so that if it doesn't work, Quatre will live," Heero retorted.

"And how exactly will we know whether or not it worked, which it will," Setsuna asked, carefully applying an indifferent expression to her face.

"Well you can drag me back can't you? Or are you incompetent?" Heero sneered. Clearly affronted, Setsuna glared at the Mercurian prince.

"Fine," she grunted, before pushing him into the door. As soon as his figure disappeared into the swirling mass of black the door slammed shut. Scowling, Setsuna tugged the door open. Heero wasn't there. "Good. Now, who's next?" Everyone shuffled awkwardly.

"Damn, I finished all the food I had," Duo complained. Everyone turned to him, ready to unleash their stress upon his soul.

{~}[]{~}

"Stupid woman, she couldn't even send me to this fabled world of War. I don't see any destruction here. Machinery yes, nothing that fits the description of a so-called _Gundam_," Heero sneered to himself. He walked a little bit and paused. "This is Mercury," he breathed. He was dumbfounded, she had caught him completely off guard. Now exactly when was he? A small chip in his brain pulsed and he flinched, hands gripping his head blindly as he stumbled. It always caused him so much pain. Ami had one as well, but no one was to know. This was a secret of the Mercurian kingdom. This was one of their most progressive projects yet, and who better to practice on than the Prince? After all, he was the genius in the family. Then little Ami was born, innocent of everything, all blue curls and bookworm. Two test subjects? Even better they said. The experiment was very controversial, but few were privy to the information. The Venusian queen had strongly disagreed to the procedure, but the Mercurian elder court had ordered it be completed. Those bastards, he thought. If it weren't for them he wouldn't be as twisted and inhumane as he was. Suddenly, another ripple of shredding pressure wormed through his brain.

{~}[]{~}

"What did you do?" Ami demanded to know. Her brother had been gone for almost half an hour and Duo's whining was getting on her nerves. "Where is he and why is he taking so long?" She was worried, the small pounding in the back of her brain sounded louder.

"He's just coming to terms with the past. Or just getting angry with it," Setsuna shrugged indifferently.

"Is he safe?" The quiet voice rose up from Rei's position, slouched over in a chair. Quatre smiled widely as he enjoyed his spot across from the fire wielding psychic. Makoto stood with her twin having a silent contest of wills. Finally, she blinked, and Trowa let out a small hurrah. Nearby, leaning on Rei's chair looking all badass was Wufei, busy cleaning his fingernails.

"I'm sure He-man is fine. He can take care of himself. He's all macho magic, brawny brain don't you worry."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Ami's eyes narrowed at the tall green hair woman. She was smart, she knew Setsuna was being just the slightest bit spiteful. Setsuna was supposedly all knowing and wise. Apparently knowledge did not equate to being impervious to frustration, and all the time in the world did not make her anymore patient with smart ass boys like Heero.

"He's alone, what could happen?"

{~}[]{~}

Heero yelled a terrifying yawp, unable to hold it in. The barbaric sound ripped from his throat as the chip shivered in the midst of his gray matter, shooting out electrical charges that fried his nerves. He looked around to see if anyone had heard him, or was bothered. He noticed a giant shadow creep across the solid structures that stood empty, no one was around. He watched as the sky darkened. A solar eclipse, he deducted. Then it clicked, she'd sent him back to when he was implanted. He was both furious and respectful at the same time. She was purposely causing his pain, but she knew more than she let on. Where on Mercury was this? He defined Mercury in his own words automatically, trying to answer his question.

_Mercury— first planet from the sun. Its people are tactically inclined and are leading in strategic defense and offense. Known for their machinery and developed technology, the people lack emotional ties, but you would know that, wouldn't you? _

The information was processed so quickly he could have been mistaken for the primitive 'computer.' Heero hated himself with a passion; he was not so much Mercurian as robot. He went to Quatre in hopes that Quatre would quell his fears, after all, he looked to Quatre for leadership. However, the answer was not what he was looking for. Quatre spoke of love flippantly and chuckled in the face of his devastation. Quatre didn't understand, but he was supposed to always understand and Heero desperately wanted to deny his feelings. Quatre was his Prince, love and happiness wasn't it? He couldn't possibly be in love. If he was in love then that meant the chip did not work. That meant that all the trouble he had gone through was for nothing. Even as a child Heero was the picture perfect Mercurian noble. He did not care for people, excluding his mother and father, and eventually his sister. But his care did not show itself, it did not extend itself past simple concern when they were ill. He did not hone his positive feelings, rather he fed his negative ones. They were what he had, they were what he was supposed to feel.

The tiny square sheltered in the deep recesses of his cranium disciplined him. He could not take a step out of line for it would punish him. He could not love for it would let him know it was _wrong_. He could not think about those opposing him in a way other than as an enemy would or it would punish him. He was like a rat. He could not do what was instinctual and care for those he knew or could possibly harm, he could not love Rei or he would be punished.

{~}[]{~}

A throbbing stab echoed in the back of Ami's head. But it had been there for a while now. Her treacherous feelings for Zoisite and her emotional ties to her friends had held out against the shooting electricity the slim bit of steel provided. She had long built up a tolerance and it was nothing but a dull ache. This was why she was forgone for her brother. He succumbed to the wants of the metal inserted into his conscious. Then again, he was older than she and did not know how cruel the insane scientist was that took care of him. The man had been executed before she was born. But he was brilliant, and the chip was thoroughly implanted and no one wanted to risk taking it out. The intensity had been lessened when she was gifted with the technology.

"How much less will it be?" She'd asked once.

"Much less," her doctor replied.

Much meant an immense amount. Mercurians never spoke about anything lightly. They were not optimistic, they were realists and they spoke like realists. The pain was enough to cripple her when she was younger and had a lesser pain tolerance. She could only imagine what her brother suffered if his chip gave him _much_ more pain. She probably would have thrown herself off a cliff. But her brother was Heero, and Heero never gave in. He saw the limiter as a necessity. He may hate it all he likes, but it made sure he did what he was supposed to do. And to the Mercurians, progress was all that mattered.

{~}[]{~}

Heero stumbled out of the vortex, his expression tight and his jaw clenched. He glared at Rei and Quatre before whirling on Setsuna.

"Why did you send me to Mercury?" He demanded. Setsuna didn't answer. "What time was that at anyway?" He asked, his voice stern as he tried to convince himself it was a mistake.

"It was merely to show you that my form of travel is completely safe. And that was fifteen years ago. I'm sure it's a year you remember quite well?" Setsuna quirked an eyebrow as she appraised him. She was challenging him. He was right, she knew, and she would not take any crap from him. She knew where to hit him where it hurt, where it truly hurt. But he would not let her win.

"I turned four. I don't see how that has much significance in your world. Now stop this foolishness and let us get to business," his tone was harsh. "Get on with it," he snapped. Ami hurried towards him and pulled on his arm questioningly. He nodded quickly and shrugged her off before grabbing Quatre's arm. "Let's go your Highness."

Both boys looked at Setsuna, one with deep rooted anger, the other with worry.

"Go," she muttered, waving her Garnet Rod. Usagi tugged Quatre into a tight hug before she backed away, rubbing her arms.

"Are you cold?" Quatre asked, concerned.

"No," she replied, smiling. "I'm fine, you just get there safely."

Quatre nodded as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. With one looking back, and one looking forward, they both stepped through the door and the door slammed shut.

{~}[]{~}

Alright. Sorry I totally disappeared, but this is the newest bit. It's short, like all my other chapters, but I really lost it for a while. So I'm just kind of chucking stuff out right now.

Also, I'm in desperate need of a beta. I kind of suck at checking my own stuff, so just let me now if you're interested. Thanks!


	5. In the World of War

Heero looked around in disgust. He much preferred the cold isolating wasteland of Mercury to this destroyed landscape. Dead bodies and debris littered the area, a tree had been crushed nearby and small holes riddled the ground everywhere. Bullets, Heero figured. Quatre leaned over the edge of the torn out sidewalk and retched. Heero walked over and tilted Quatre's head back, flushing out the remaining vomit with a rush of cool water. Quatre spat out the waste and shook his head.

"Thanks," the blonde muttered as he looked up at the stoic man next to him.

"You're my Prince, it's what I'm supposed to do," Heero shrugged, his tone as chilled as the ice he produced. A shriek of movement sounded from in front of them. He stood up and paused. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, what do you suppose it was?" Quatre inquired, his head turned, searching for the source of the sound. Another screech of metal rent the air. Hovering above the dust and rock was a robot that stretched to the sky; pure white with two arced blades attached to its back. Both boys turned and stared, eyes wide. "Gundam," Heero grunted, hiding his awe with a mask of indifference. He quickly gripped Quatre's elbow and dragged him into a set of bushes that weren't completely desolate. His eyes watched the giant mech as it strolled past them, the slick material shining in the sun, easily blinding them both.

"This is what _Duo _was able to control?" Quatre breathed, "that's global suicide!" Heero nodded in agreement, the thing was menacing. But who was controlling it and how? Heero squinted, trying to a get a good look, but where was the cockpit? They had weapons far more deadly in the Silver Millenium, but they were much smaller, just its size alone was intimidating. Maybe, here, they were more advanced in weaponry, after all, the Mercurians were more involved with technological progress. They did not depend on their machinery for warfare. His speculation was interrupted with a portal opened up above where he and Quatre had originally landed.

"Not now!" Heero grunted, they would be seen. This was not what Heero wanted.

"Dammit, Setsuna let us down easier!" The indignant screech was near impossible to miss. Duo stood up, patting the dust off his 'stylish' boots.

"Shut up, Duo," Wufei hissed, having landed on his feet. Trowa stiffened at the sight of the Gundam.

"Guys," he murmured, tugging on Wufei's sleeve. The massive suit whirled toward the source of Duo's yell and spotted the visible three. Quickly it reached down and ensnared Duo and started to pull him upward.

"No!" Quatre sprinted out of his hiding spot, Heero close behind. "Duo!" He leaped and grabbed the edge of the Gundam's knuckle before slipping off, his hands cut and bleeding profusely. Heero caught the Lunar prince and they both hit the ground.

"Quatre?" The captive went scrambling toward the edge, having been struck dumb for a moment. Duo pitched off the side and tumbled down before landing on his feet. The boys mobbed together, preparing to defend themselves. The silent mass of white metal stepped forward, following Duo's movements. It quickly grabbed the other boys with its other hand, careful not to crush them. As the air pressure increased at a drastic rate, all five boys blacked out.

{~}[]{~}

"Good morning, sunshine!" Minako's voice echoed in the black of Duo's vision. Wearily he opened his eyes, his vision blurry.

"You're up early," he intoned. As his vision sharpened, he flinched. Minako was glowing brightly, but her usual golden tones were all darkened. Her blonde hair was still as shiny as ever, but something seemed off. He noted the golden tiara twinkling in her hair. "What's going on?" he gestured with his hand weakly, everything seemed heavy and damp, even the air was hard to resist.

"I'm getting married today, silly!" Minako stood up, her movements seemed difficult and sluggish. She twirled, her skirts flaring upward in an almost drugged wave.

"To whom?" Duo was almost afraid to ask. Trowa had been pining after Minako for a while, and it seemed so awkward to imagine Tro-man with his sister. Minako of course, despite her amazing ability to read everyone else's emotion, could not see how anyone felt toward herself. Duo leaned forward, trying to catch the words leaving her mouth.

"Kunzite of course! Who else?" Minako was surprised, she shook her head and walked toward a window. "It's such a beautiful day," she continued, "perfect for our outdoor wedding." She smiled back at him over her shoulder, her expression twisted. A knock at the door garnered their attention. Usagi stepped in, her face almost violent in its sick excitement.

"You're getting married today!" She squealed, her face completely straight and void of worry when a scream sounded from the hallway. Duo bolted upward, intent on finding the source of the tortured yell when a bleeding Ami stumbled into the room.

Her limbs swung widely, quickly, and unhindered. Unable to control himself, he grabbed her by the shoulders and tried his best to assess her wounds. She fought him the entire time, sobbing nonsensical words. Duo was confused, Ami was bleeding, but the only major issues he could locate were bruises, no breaking of the skin. He heard tinkling laughter at his ear, Minako and Usagi had come up behind him and trapped his arms in a thick smoke. They tightened his hold on Ami's body, the pressure enough to make her sockets pop and her bones crack. Ami sighed in what could be seen as relief, as the smoke unwound itself and snaked up her nostrils. Her body relaxed as she seemed to droop in his arms, her weight tripling. The blood leaked out even faster, almost as if it were being sucked out through a vacuum. Duo followed the trail of blood up to a shallow cut under her rib. The red stream didn't stop, only becoming greater and faster, a river, a torrent of rapids that grew faster as the amount of blood increased. Ami's face became paler by the second, but the more she bled the happier she seemed.

"It's all over," a dark cloud leaked out of Ami's lips, pulling together in the shape of a wiry and skeletal figure. Desperate for succor, Duo tried for the doors leading out the hallway and a restroom, both were blocked by the mangled women. The creature looked at him with an almost innocent tilt of the head, it's gaping eyes sinister.

Duo looked out the window for reprieve, it was black.

{~}[]{~}

"What the fuck?" Wufei groaned.

"Mind your manners, we do not speak like that here. You should know that," A sharp voice reprimanded, a resounding smack to the back of his head occurred seconds later. The wrinkled lady eyed him with a look of disapproval before she smiled at him kindly. She was kneeling and bowed down low, turning back to the front of the room. Wufei whipped around to face the front as well. He was on Mars.

"Excuse me grandmother," he started out respectfully before getting a face full of saggy skinned fist.

"I'm not your grandmother, Wufei," the woman huffed, folding her hands into her robes once more. Wufei examined the woman with interest, he was seething, but she looked familiar to him. She was thin and small, her skin was pale and thin and her hair was long and white, but what caught him were her eyes.

"Rei?" Wufei could not contain his shock and received another hit.

"Yes, I'm right here," she smiled at him. "Now, can we pray some more?" She closed her alarming eyes and smirked. "What's wrong with you?" She snorted, obviously age did nothing to dull her tongue.

"Nothing," he replied defensively before catching his reflection in a twisting pier glass that hung on the wall. Next to the aged Rei was a equally elderly man, his long hair held back with a piece of cloth. His face was stern and his forehead was a mass of folded flesh, his mouth drawn into a tight line. There were no crow's feet for it was obvious this man did not smile very much and he had a straight back. He had liver spots on his cheeks and his watery eyes were black. He looked on for a moment before turning away. He looked at Rei's left hand, sure enough there was a golden band accompanied by a ring decorated with rubies and diamonds. "Could you remind me, sister, do I have any nieces or nephews?"

"Oh yes, "the blonde nightmares" as you like to call them," her eyes glinted. Wufei felt sick to his stomach.

"Ah, I am old, please tell me of their father," He gazed at her, judging her suspicion. This Rei was blissfully unaware, a trait that bothered Wufei almost immediately.

"Yes, their father is quite handsome and has stayed that way long past his time," She sighed wistfully, looking out the gates of the temple. The incense burned, the smell causing an itch in his brain. The golden figure on the pedestal began to move, it thumped off the edge of the wooden surface wandering closer to them. It seemed to latch onto Rei's wrist and a ripping sound broke past the incense filled thoughts. Wufei watched in horror as the beautiful statue rotated, its stomach fatter and its mouth speckled with dried skin. He glanced up at his sister once more, his own stomach turned. She was young again. "Your turn, soon we'll both be young and beautiful again" she smiled. Rei was never this vain, Wufei was sure.

"How does this happen?" He questioned, edging away from the magical vessel.

"We need to get the magic from somewhere, it's easy enough," Rei waved her hand, a wall of chains and rope growing. Dangling by their wrists were Hotaru and Setsuna. "The goddess of death and rebirth and the goddess of time provide all the years we need, what better mediums for youth?" she asked proudly. Wufei's neck tensed as he let out a scream fit for a girl. A small set of teeth were gnawing at his dermis, the skin it removed replaced by a flow of warm energy. The sensation was addicting, and soon he was swept up in the euphoria. His eyes fluttered as he barely heard the now unbearable cries of pain from both women in front of him. Rei just kept smiling at him like nothing was wrong, and to him she was right to do so. He looked again at the mirror, the little monster was done and it hopped back onto its place. The old pair was replaced by the Rei and Wufei he was used to seeing, but even they were different. There was a spark, an unholy glow in their eyes. What bothered Wufei the most was that he was not worried about anything.

Wufei was always on edge about something, comfortable was not in his vocabulary. Apparently it was now. With a casual look back at the two restrained women, he walked to Hotaru and grasped her hand. Instantly the high was gone and he looked at her, shocked. She spit in his face.

{~}[]{~}

Quatre awoke to the sound of arguing. To his left were all of his generals, knocked out.

"Trowa!" Quatre shook the boy nearest him. Trowa did not respond, not even a twitch. A click caused Quatre to freeze. Another Heero was holding a gun to his temple. "Please, think of what you're doing. This will not solve anything. We are here to ask you for assistance. Our world is dying, trying to fight off a terrorist group led from Earth—" He was cut off, choking as another boy pulled him away roughly, an arm hooked around his neck. He looked on, stunned as an oddly dressed version of himself stared back at him. A dark looking Duo poured a pail of water over Wufei's head. Quatre winced, bad choice.

"Wake up, Wufei," Hotaru's spit turned into a splash of water that soaked the Wufei's shirt and his loose hair. Coughing, the black hair Aresian sat up, sputtering out water and blinking rapidly. Clear blue eyes met his vision.

"Quatre?" The boy nodded hesitantly when Wufei grabbed his collar. "You're not Quatre," Wufei hissed. The boy was dressed in an atrocious light pink shirt, ungodly tight pants, and wore goggles that mussed his hair. Quatre would never be as unsightly as to wear goggles on his head all the time, or wear pink. Duo gave Quatre enough crap about being girly, Quatre would never encourage his opinions by wearing something as awful as that.

"Step away from him," Heero leveled a gun to Wufei's face. Wufei snorted as he moved threateningly closer to the boy in front of him.

"What are you doing playing with such useless machinery? That will not harm me, you should know that. Besides, why are you holding that up to me in the first place?" Wufei looked past the gun to spot the brunette holding it. This Heero looked equally stern, if not more so, but his clothing was absurd. A loose shirt that tucked into those strange pants again. Heero would never wear anything of the sort. These imposters had no fashion sense. "Ah, you are the _other Heero_."

"I said step away from him," The strange Heero reiterated, ignoring the stressed title.

"No," Wufei sneered. "I do not answer to you," he sniffed, nose upturned. Out of the corner of his eye, Wufei spotted his Quatre dressed in white robes being manhandled by a mirror image of himself. Quatre was gripping the arm around his neck that kept him in place. On his other side, he saw the other three boys, still incapacitated. "What do you think you're doing imposter?" He snapped, pushing past Heero to reach his prince, the water on his skin popped as it sizzled out of existence.

Heero fired.

Hello! Okay, well, I just wanted to get this out quickly, and I've gotten an offer for betaing by Angelic Mayuka! Thank you for that! I truly appreciate it! I'll try to figure out a way of communication soon!


	6. Progression

Hello, I'm back for the moment! Sorry about the delay, thanks for the reviews (the two of them), lol. Anyway, onward, sorry about the awful cliffhanger and my computer's inability to separate the parts I want to keep separate. Also, it's going to be confusing, what with the names, so the differences are going to be mostly based on clothing and speech patterns. Keep in mind, the commentary about clothes being odd and the like are opinions from the perspective of the Silver Millennium, well except for the beginning of this. I'll try to make the idiosyncrasies of each person clear. Also, Trowa from the Silver Millennium doesn't have bangs that are quite that long. Just imagine an emo hair cut. Wufei still has his Katana, but rather than using Japanese terminology (besides names) I'm going to try describing the objects instead. Wufei also doesn't have his hair in a ponytail, and Duo's hair isn't quite as long. Heero's hair is basically the same, just longer, Quatre's as well. Silver Millennium Quatre is a little bit thinner as well, since he depends most on his magic because the others protect him more. The Millennium boys have a more youthful look, but they're only about a year younger than their counterparts.

Wufei looked around the spacious room. They had evidently been brought to a hideout of some sort. The room was all metal and concrete, computers and desks lined the walls. He looked again at his comrades, their bodies unceremoniously dumped on the floor when he heard the blast. He stared at the cylinder of metal as it approached him at a blinding speed. Screw diplomacy.

Heero watched as the bullet sped toward the incensed and oddly dressed Wufei. It never made contact. A capsule of fire exploded around the metal shot and engulfed it, the flames blue with heat. The melted bit of steel continued onward, but the less aerodynamic liquid-like state caused it to fall. With a resounding plop, the flaming missile danced on the floor.

"What a miserable attempt," Wufei snorted. "I told you that wouldn't harm me, but you didn't listen," The red-robed man continued his rescue, when clicks sounded from all around him. The four remaining Gundam pilots had armed themselves. The bulkier Quatre held a pistol while the black garbed Duo held two guns aloft. The ridiculously long-haired Trowa hefted up a pistol of his own, and the Wufei keeping Quatre imprisoned pulled out long and thin sword. "You do realize that if he was unable to injure me with your useless toys, you will probably do no better," Wufei jerked his head in Heero's direction, obviously amused by their foolishness. He was surrounded, but that did not deter him.

"How do we know you're not bluffing? That could have been a one time trick, you might not have anything left," Duo called, head tilted to the side. Wufei restrained Quatre, his slick ponytail keeping his hair out of his face. "Who the fuck are you guys anyway?"

"You," The Aresian called, ignoring Duo in favor of bothering his clone. "Not only are you keeping royalty captive under no laws, but you are wielding the most inconvenient weapon. All the other men have drawn weapons that use distance, you however, are using a sword. That requires direct contact and a closer range. You are also hindered by my Prince, and thus are the most vulnerable in this situation. Release him," he stressed. Heero, Duo, Trowa, and Quatre all dropped their guns as they felt a shock. The guns smoked and sizzled with electricity, useless. They had been concerned before, what with the sudden appearance of boys that looked exactly like them. This clone of Wufei possessed powers that protected him from Heero's execution style attack and now this. They pulled toward each other, an instinctive movement that created a loose wall of bodes around the captured blonde and his Chinese cage.

"I would have expected you to have this all wrapped up Wufei," the Trowa wrapped in Jovian garments had risen while the men were distracted. His hand sparked as he pushed past the glaring Heero, he tapped the ground with his foot and a string of lightning shot up from the floor connecting with the metal blade of Wufei's sword. This shock was stronger, causing Wufei's muscles of seize temporarily, allowing Quatre to escape. All the other men watched, they'd seen each other get hurt before, but this was crazy.

"That was unnecessary! We wish to ask them for help, not harm them!" Quatre knelt down to heal the man lying on the ground, still suffering the effects of Trowa's attack.

"They will be of no use to us if this is all they have," Heero spoke up from his spot on the floor next to the still drooling Duo. "They are unable to do us any damage at all, and they are less resistant to magic than the Earthlings of our world." Heero pushed himself to his feet as he stuffed his hands into his billowing blue sleeves.

"Hush," Quatre scolded. "They must be able to aid us somehow, otherwise, Setsuna never would have sent us here. You insult her and me by questioning my judgment," he stated proudly, his ego deflated by his captivity in front of his men. He was supposed to lead them, and he was too scared to free himself. He refused to harm the man that was more than willing to kill him, just because his captor looked like one of his friends. _Friends,_ whatever, does he even know what the means? Quatre mentally snorted, surprised by his own cynicism. Wufei did not have friends, he had acquaintances, and his family. Still, above all, he had Quatre to watch over.

"Hey, what's going on here boys?" Duo finally woke up and looked around, rubbing his hand into his scalp. "Y'all had a fight? Who won?"

"No one, you imbecile," Wufei snapped, a blade of fire appearing in his hand as he glared the humans that thought they could best him.

"You just insulted my choice in weaponry while you use a sword of your own," a voice choked out. Wufei's teeth were clenched together, his jaw still twitching as he spoke.

"Your sword is made of steel correct? Mine is made from pure Mars Areiate, much stronger than your meek metals. Apart from that, I am able to manipulate the flames around its blade and they can be used as projectiles. I am superior to you, do not forget it."

The human Wufei snarled, his pride was important to him, and this look alike was insulting something that was a part of him. He tried to regain control of his muscles, but Quatre's attention was elsewhere, and the healing process had ceased.

"Wufei!" Quatre hissed, "You are crossing lines, hold your tongue, please." The tail end of Quatre's statement told the modern Heero several things. Although this Quatre was supposed to be in charge, he was still uncertain about exerting his position: he was impeccably mannered, well spoken, was very diplomatic and projected a sense of untouchable elegance. He was, in short, a very kind and honest person who was not cut out to be what he apparently was, a leader. Those were common nowadays. After having run ins with the unreasonable Relena and her brother with hair longer than her own, Heero had a very low opinion of rulers. However, Relena and Zechs had a different problem. Rather than being more uncertain and careful like this Quatre, they were concerned about their objective. Or in Relena's case her relationship with himself. His eyebrows drew together as he tried to piece together what was happening, he needed answers.

"Why are yo—" Heero was cut off when a portal dropped a figure on top of him. Usagi scrambled off of the man, her long skirts tripping her and suffocating her cushion; namely, Heero.

"Quatre!" She rushed forward and the white marshmallow skirts followed, creating the vision of a giant white cotton ball topped with golden thread.

"Princess, please calm yourself," a quiet voice spoke up from behind the group. All heads whipped around, except Usagi's and Quatre's, as Usagi knew who was speaking and Quatre couldn't move. Hotaru hovered above the ground, her Silence Glaive held securely in her hand.

"Lady," Wufei bowed, followed by the other Silver Millenium men. That is, all but the ensnared Quatre, the poor boy seemed to be the victim quite often.

"Listen!" Heero commanded, angry that he'd been set aside when a giant white puffball appeared from the ceiling. Everyone tensed, Usagi stared at him open mouthed as though surprised. "Why are you here?" He murmured, tucking his head down to hide from the sudden attention.

"The Princess demanded to know the welfare of her brother, and the others are clamoring to know of their kin as well," Hotaru smirked. "What is the meaning of this?" She gestured to the magic-less men, "you may want to prepare them, your sisters will be here any moment. I transported Usagi here, soon enough Setsuna will crack and they'll be here. Haven't you spoken to them yet?" She looked at Heero, he was the lead male Senshi, he was supposed to have this all under control.

"That's not what he meant," The long haired Trowa spoke up. "Who are you, and why do you look like us when we were fifteen?"

"Just how old are you anyway?" Wufei interjected, as he stared at the flaxen siblings next to him. The Aresian Wufei moved toward him threateningly.

"Old enough to kill you," He held the white hot flares to the man's face.

At that very moment, another vortex formed in the seamless roof, the human men all drew up into defensive positions, naturally grouping together, as did the solar royalty.

Four more bodies fell from the ceiling, all landing in a dignified fashion. Usagi was the only female that crashed, as was the way of the world. As each girl landed, the aliens collected around their landing comrades, except for the Lunar prince and princess. Their top priority and the very people they were trying to protect.

The capable human men armed themselves once more, holding out different guns. The picture to the arriving women was not good, the effect was immediate. Flame, lightning, ice, and golden energy surged forth, decimating the pathetic chambered metal.

Hell hath no fury like a woman. She did not need to be scorned.

Sometimes Minako wondered what it was like to be in real danger. She was no masochist, and she did not inflict harm upon herself. She had dealt with fights, spars, heartbreak, but what did it feel like to be on the very brink of death. When she was fighting Kunzite, she was more concerned with the welfare of her princess, and dare she say it, her nemesis.

As she stood from her kneeling position, she noted the aggressive stance of the men across from her and her friends. Suddenly, she was faced with handheld barrels she assumed were dangerous. She did not even have to call orders. Her hand pulsed with magic as she launched a swirling wall of orange and yellow that melted the front of the guns. Rei let loose a swarm of fire that ate at the pellets flying toward them. Ami froze the body of each gun, forcing the water molecules inside the hollow pieces to freeze as Makoto used her abilities to render the guns unusable.

"We need to get the Prince and Princess first," Minako ordered, taking the chain from around her waist she looked for the easiest person to use for an exchange. Wufei was being protected as he was still on the floor, gasping for breath. Besides, Quatre and Usagi sat in her way, she would not endanger them. The man with a long brown braid was distracted, gawking as his eyes followed Ami's skirt. He was fidgeting and he stood at one end of the human chain. No sooner did she whip out the golden hearts, did a hand grab the metal. She followed the stream of glinting Venunite to see a man with absurd bangs holding it tightly. She was shocked, the heat coming off her chain should have prompted the man to let go as soon as he'd grabbed it. Yet here he was, the only show of effort was the shaking of his hand as the smell of burning flesh rent the air.

"Stop, Minako!" Usagi watched in horror as the Trowa look alike did not let go. With a jerk of her wrist, the chain slid though his grasp, the metal doing even more damage as the sharp edges cut deeper into the peeling skin. Minako held the chain close to her as she pulled off the epidermal remains that had attached to the searing restraint. Usagi hauled herself upward, determined to clean and heal the burn. Quickly, Ami stepped forward. Usagi could easily fix this wound, but they were still not sure whether or not these men would accept them.

"I've got it, Usa," pointedly ignoring Heero's disapproving glance, she pushed the blonde aside and let cooling water flow over the raw opening. With one tap of her finger the water froze, causing Trowa to grunt in pain. Then, Ami pushed a finger into the ice, melting it on the bottom with a puddle of water in the middle of the still frozen top. She pulled out a vial and poured the liquid into the clear ice vase before waving her hand to freeze the center. The five humans looked on as the wound cleaned up and began to stitch the flesh together.

"What did you do?" The pink clad Quatre asked, his eyes simultaneously suspicious and filled with awe.

"I simply gave him a serum that speeds up the recovery process, however, it does not create scars," Ami replied, simply. She ignored the looks of surprise on the pilots' faces. They had not expected her to be so honest, or for the answer to be so simple.

"Why the ice?" Duo spoke up, his long braid swinging as he fidgeted, still appraising Ami from behind. "You'd think a girl so hot would be wielding fire like that chick over there." Rei's mouth dropped open as she gaped at him, insulted.

"To seal in the liquid easier," she spoke calmly, trying her best to avoid looking Duo straight in the face. She watched as the wound finished healing and the ice melted and dripped to the floor.

"I guess that makes sense, ice and your hair. Is that natural? Or the does the carpet not match the drapes?" Duo grinned, forgetting his earlier question before flailing around like a lunatic. "Damn!" The tail end of his braid caught on fire, ice began to crawl up his leg, and a thread of lightning twined itself around his torso. The Hermesian Heero had an almost imperceptible scowl on his lips as Makoto and Rei gave each other a high five. Minako studied the man as he grabbed his braid, whimpering as he stroked the burned fibers. He had the same attitude, but his hair was even longer than her Duo's. She glanced back at her brother, equally distracted, but instead he was staring at his twin. Glaring, actually. Minako smiled; as Venusian princess, she was more acute to romantic emotion, and Duo had been resonating love toward Ami just as much as Zoisite. However, Duo just left the situation alone. He too had an innate ability to tell people's feelings, and he knew Ami didn't feel for him what he felt for her. Minako was startled when Duo started to watch Heero. She'd questioned if Ami's unspoken rejection was enough to make him switch teams. Then she realized that Duo was simply curious. Heero was spartan and stoic, hardly acceptable by Venusian terms, but Duo had tapped in on the fleeting moments of the more common triumph. Minako and Duo both noticed they were just like Ami's emotions, subdued, almost _restrained_. Ami's emotions were much easier to read, her discipline not quite up to Heero standards.

"Can we please continue this elsewhere? People are bound to have heard the gunshots," Quatre looked around anxiously, his muscles tense and showing through the thin fabric of his shirt. Makoto and Minako stared for a moment, their Quatre was nowhere near this fit. Rei elbowed Makoto, who was standing nearer to her, clearing her throat pointedly. Makoto blushed when Quatre turned to look at her and Rei, eyes focusing on her specifically. Rei rolled her eyes and paused, listening for any signs of life outside the ammunition-lined walls.

"I think we should get moving," she murmured. The pounding of footsteps became louder as a muffled argument could be heard at the door.

"Why should we trust _you_?" Wufei spat from his spot, next to the Lunarians, glaring at the blazing sword held a foot from his face. The Aresian just moved the blade even closer

"Wufei," Rei muttered warningly. Her brother acquiesced and the sharp flames disappeared as the seated version began to move, but stopped when he realized he was not who this woman was talking to.

"Heero?" Relena's voice wavered, showing her concern.

"We have to leave, we can't explain this now and we're supposed to stay as inconspicuous as possible," Trowa hissed as he pushed up his long green sleeves. The perfect soldier was furious, he'd spent close to twelve minutes with these people and he had no answers. Instead he had a tidy amount of guns destroyed, a wounded teammate and the company of absurdly dressed women and men.

"Wait just a second," He started as he was pushed aside once more.

"On it, where to?" Hotaru asked as she contacted Setsuna, playing with the digital watch as Setsuna's face appeared on the screen. "Hey, we need a source of transportation."

"I already know where to send you, don't worry about it," Setsuna's serene voice sounded from the watch around Hotaru's wrist.

"Heero? Are you okay? Who are you talking to?" Relena's voice was growing more and more frantic.

"We're here for a reason, you know. We didn't just barge in on you for fun, no matter how fun it is to piss Wufei off," Duo shrugged.

"We have to say something so she doesn't bother us. You, leave, we'll meet you in a little bit," Wufei spoke as he stood, his ponytail dripping some sweat as he was still abnormally warm.

"Okay, we'll be waiting," Heero spoke up as he watched the closed door cautiously.

Without a sound, another portal opened in the ceiling. The pilots watched as all eleven aliens jumped upward and disappeared. Immediately the door slammed open, allowing a group of people to crowd the room.

"What happened here?" Zechs question, motioning to the destroyed weaponry on the floor.

"We were experimenting," Quatre spoke up quickly, his voice firm. "Apparently our guns need a little bit of upgrading." His gaze examining the metal that had hardened on the floor, it was frightening and amazing at the same time. He looked down at his own hands, he'd killed people with the use of his Gundam and handhelds. These strange beings could kill with something people thought impossible.

"That's an understatement," Duo snorted as he shined one of his remaining guns with the bottom of his shirt. His black wife beater stretched with each movement, the leather of his gloves shone in the light as he pocketed the gun and cracked his neck. "These babies are so out of date."

"Agreed, we will be going though. We're done with work today," Wufei began to push past the mass of people, his irritation easily showing. He shook his head, flicking sweat onto Zechs as he passed.

"Disgusting, what have you been doing in here?" Zechs looked at them incredulously, staring at the melted steel that had created an odd lump on the floor. The boys looked at each other. They did not know what to say.

"But you didn't forget the get together tonight correct? I'm to speak, and we need you all to be there. Bring dates, except you, Heero, you'll be escorting me," Relena waved her hand carelessly as her anxiety had long since disappeared. "You are allowed to bring other guests as well, within reason," she finished before turning to leave. She brushed past Wufei, who had been standing the hallway.

"See you tonight boys," Zechs moved toward the doorway as well as he looked over them one last time. Heero grunted his assent.

"Mister Peacecraft," Quatre bowed respectfully before gathering the useless metal from the ground. He moved to leave, as did the remaining three boys.

"Let's get home then."

Failllllllll. Sorry for taking so long, and I don't have any good excuses besides lack of inspiration. Anyway, thanks decisionpending and JPandS! I really appreciate the reviews!

Also, thank you so much, Angelic Mayuka!

I'll be doodling picture of each boy and posting them on my Deviantart soon. Otherwise, my page doesn't get much action at all.


	7. Will

I'm so sorry for taking so long.

LOLULOLULOLULOL

"Are you insane?" Wufei asked, eyes flashing. "We can't go back to our house! That's the first place they'll expect us to go!" Around him, the smaller children in the park began to stare. The boys made a tighter circle and lowered their voices.

"Which is exactly why we should go back," Trowa reasoned. "We can't just go about this blindly, let's at least find out what they want," he shrugged, leaning back against a tree. Duo came up next to him, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Tro-man's right. We can't just leave them be. We need to go home eventually, and if we're going to confront them again we might as well do it now," He figured as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"But what if they attack us?" Quatre asked, worried. "They could easily over power us. Then again, what's the point in running? They'll probably find us anywhere we go," he sighed. "We can't do anything but meet them now," any signs of rebellion in Quatre had faded as his logic ran around itself.

"Then how do you suppose we do this? Dude, we can't just barge in the front door like we usually do. Or go through the garage, it makes too much noise," Duo tapped out the different points on his fingertips.

"I say we just go home now and try and observe them as best we can," Heero deadpanned. "We'll just act normal, try to question them and figure this out. They did say that they would explain."

"For some reason I have a sinking feeling that them explaining is just another term for them kicking our asses," Duo chuckled.

"Now's really not the time Duo," Quatre groaned unhappily, running his fingers through his sweaty mass of hair.

"What the hell, let's just go."

[]{~}[]

"They're coming," Hotaru murmured as she fingered her Silence Glaive, the knuckles of her glove tightening.

"How are we going to approach this? Our last encounter didn't exactly go as planned," Makoto asked, nervous. "I don't think they're all too willing to talk to us right now."

"They don't have a choice. We have to talk to them now so that we can prepare. We don't know how long Pluto can hold out," Heero was brief, his face twisted in an unsettling scowl. "We only have so long."

"Heero's right," Ami came up behind them a decrepit book in her hands. She laid it softly on the table in front of them as she pointed to a timeline. "This is the journal of the Oracle of Delphi."

"On Earth?" Makoto's eyebrow quirked. "How'd you get your hands on that? Even before the war we weren't exactly on the best of terms with them."

"I was on very good terms with someone from Earth," Ami let slip, her quivering voice almost inaudible. Suddenly, she winced, and she immediately sobered, her back straightening. Heero's gaze shot to her as she righted herself before immediately latching on Makoto.

"Does it matter?" He bit out, his voice rough. His eyes bore into Makoto's challenging her before she looked away, ashamed.

"Anyway, Ami, what is the purpose of this journal?" Hotaru asked softly, pressing on.

"I always keep it on my subspace pocket for moments like these. The Oracle of Delphi had some superior brain power, it wasn't all methane gas like some people seem to believe. He knew something about us, I guess it helped that a certain blonde haired prince visited under the title _Apollo._" Quatre froze in the doorway, his hand massaging the back of his neck.

"I was little, and he was interesting!" He justified, his blue eyes guilty as he defended himself.

"Again, the purpose?" Heero asked as his cheeks puffed with irritation.

"He could actually see the future, to a certain extent. As you can see on this timeline, the castle invasion is clearly listed here. The _Battle of the Gods_ as he so aptly named it," She rolled her eyes at the human's misconception. "Then further along the line, approximately three Earth Months is the _Dawn of Reckoning_." Her finger hovered over the crumbling paper as she moved her finger along the dates to a droplet of ink. "Apparently he fortold us living, as you can see our names dot the timeline, I don't really know the reasons why. The funny thing is, is that we are in a parallel universe, however, he still fixed us on random moments in our own dimension." Ami's face darkened. "Now we just need to figure out what these moments have to do with us."

"Perhaps we will each be called back one at a time to fight. Maybe these show our triumphs," Makoto offered.

"Or our deaths."

The room went quiet. Quatre coughed before shifting awkwardly toward the door from whence he came.

"I'm going to go find Usagi so we can discuss what we will say to the Pilots," he explained quickly before dashing off.

"I think it might be too late for that," Minako huffed as she grabbed hold of her prince. "They're here."

LOLULOLULOLULOLULOLULOLU

The six peeled down the stairs, some shamelessly running, others power walking with meaning. Heero's stride strong and determined, but subdued, rather like his whole demeanor. The glint in his eyes was calculating, brooding, Mercurian in its entirety. His posture made even Ami a little uncomfortable. Obviously Heero was just as insecure about this situation as the rest of them were. The only problem was that he couldn't express it. Minako had once asked if he was going to explode if he cracked a smile. Rei just tossed her glistening hair as she explained that the universe itself would die if he did such a thing. Ami couldn't help but mentally snicker, her outer appearance as blank as she was intelligent. Her eyes flickered to the side when she saw a small grey cat jump into her peripheral vision.

"Diana?" Everyone paused, no one had seen her since the moon, but what bothered them more was that she was a cat. Why would she bother to blend in with this world? Ami's heart sank.

"The Moon has fallen, without Queen Selenity it wasn't long before the entire palace was overrun. We could do nothing but come here, we failed to protect our homeland," Diana's squeaky voice dissolved into tears as her parents stumbled out from a black hole behind her. Minako cried out when she saw them as her powers drank in their pain. Not only were they singed and exhausted, but Artemis' white coat was stained with blood and Luna didn't look too much better.

"Oh, goddess!" Quatre yanked away from Minako and hurried toward his Mauan friends, hands extended and glowing. The silver shimmer, barely noticeable in the daylight, blanketed the three as their wounds fixed themselves and light returned to their eyes. Artemis didn't even try to stand as he was still too tired to do anything, his almost pathetic appearance tugged at Makoto's heartstrings as she leaned over to heave him into her arms. Her hands were gentle as she pulled him toward her, before she leaned down to pick up Luna as well. Heero surprised everyone when he offered his shoulder to Diana, Quatre, who was halfway there just smiled sadly as he made his way down the stairs.

Diana had mentioned that Queen Selenity was gone.

His mother was dead. Quatre's eyes focused on the step in front of him as he stumbled slightly, catching himself before he fell. He bit his lip before continuing, his lively dash down to greet the humans had become a somber march. One foot, then another, then another, then another, what was he going to tell Usagi? Quatre didn't know what to do. He had never been the one privy to information, why now? Why Heero? Why his _mother_? Why be the Prince? When they reached the bottom landing, Quatre just stared at the floor. His eyes were stinging, he wanted to cry, he wanted it so much. But he couldn't, not like this. Usagi had to know. Everyone else had to know. As Quatre steeled himself he felt a hand on his shoulder, clamping down on it hard. Quatre jumped, and looked to see Heero awkwardly looking away as his fingers dug into Quatre's shoulder muscles.

"Above all, we are friends," Heero's quiet statement startled everyone, Diana walked down Heero's arm to snuggle into Quatre's cheek. "We are here to win this war and her sacrifice will not be in vain."

"We will win this war for everyone. For us, and our future," Ami's voice was eerily similar to her brothers, hard and cold and oddly comforting. The two generals made eye contact before looking back at the shuddering child before them.

"For everyone left," Hotaru murmured, scared as she felt the calamity of the moon truly hit her. Scream after scream echoed in her head as they dead went to the afterlife, Hotaru's charges amounted generously in numbers, what concerned her was that no one from Earth was among them.

"There you are," Wufei's expression was unforgiving as he watched the still group collected in the foyer. "We finally got them to give up on their pathetic little guns."

LOLULOLULOLULOLULOL

Duo eyed the pile of shining metal in front of him and his comrades. They had immediately surrendered all of their weaponry ranging from grenades to Wufei's treasured katana. The Chinese man was still glancing at the black hilt; the lack of security the separation caused him was blatant. Duo's gaze went to the four standing in front of him. Two were women, one with silver hair and the prestigious standing to match and the other one with eyes that glinted with purple fire. Both were beautiful, neither were who he was looking for. The other pair was of men, one with a shaggy brown haircut that grazed the verdant green of his irises and the other made Duo twinge. It was him, just thinner and with shorter hair. He didn't know what to make of this. The two boys had the build of a prepubescent, but they proved to be made of extremely stern stuff. Apparently, stuff so stern their bullets couldn't punch through them. Then again, random magical shit was helpful too. Duo couldn't help his aggravation, never in his life had he been this out of the loop. He'd take Endless Waltz again so that he could ignore the chance of little boys with lightning coming out of their asses. Then again, that blue haired chick was cute. She could stay.

"Don't get any funny ideas, even if you guys decided that going against us would be a good idea those things would still be ineffective," The colored eyes snapped at his own as the identical beings looked at each other. The doppelganger cracked a grin as he stared Duo down.

"They are called guns," Heero's voice cut through the awkward silence that followed the Venusian's statement.

"Right, those," Duo's skinny arms jerked the orange cloth hanging from his frame, his careless attitude grating on the bulkier Duo's already frayed nerves. So this was how the other boys felt when he cracked a joke in stressful situations. He'd try avoiding that from now on. The already intimidating group of four grew to an alarming eleven once more. Duo's attention condensed on the shuddering blonde with the tiny grey ball of fur on his shoulder.

"Usagi, Mom, she's," The façade broke almost quicker than it had been built, the strength Heero leant was not enough.

"What?" Usagi paused, sorting through the strangled sobs erupting from the trembling mass supported on his knees.

"She's dead." Was the answer, as cracked and dry as the throat that delivered it. The orange clad siblings felt the anguish drill into every pore of their bodies as they too almost collapsed under the pressure. For a moment every person in the room focused on the receiver of the news. The generals all watched their new Queen as she stepped toward the five men of Earth.

"Please help us," the plea was simple and sharp. Usagi sank to the ground, her forehead touching the granite tiles, her palms pressed flat in the midst of her shimmering hair. Her white dress contrasted against the black stone as she shed her own tears on the cold surface. Quickly the others followed suit, even the three cats prostrated themselves in surrender. The two silver twins crying brokenly on the tile as they mourned their mother's death.

"Why?" Heero whispered, the perfect soldier looked at the shattered group before him. "Why did she have to die?"

"Will is a strong thing, the strong cannot use their strength without it, just as the wise cannot cultivate their knowledge unless they have the drive to do so. She had the want to dominate the universe, and Beryl's will won't allow her to stop at anything until she gets it."

LOLULOLULOLULOLULOLULOL

I'm so sorry, I'd lost all inspiration for this, and if you haven't already I thoroughly recommend that you read through this entire story again. For the most part, the chapters have been rewritten, except for the first. This was all done without a beta, so please forgive any typos you might find. But if you do so happen to come across them, please let me know.

I hope you like it, and I hope that you can find it in your heart to understand, that not only have I lacked muse, but I've been struggling with real life as well.

Also, dear, anonymous reader, flame me all you want, but until you get either the balls to tell me who you are, or a real reason to be mad at me, I won't care. I'm not going to delete your messages, but I do want to know why. You probably don't even read this, as you've shown your disgust with me quite clearly, but if you do, the least you can do is give me something to fix. Thanks, and good riddance.


	8. Gobbet

I actually own this chapter, so coolio. Just not the rest of this story.

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Gobbet had always had visions. When she was born her family found the dismembered head of a goose on their front lawn. They thought nothing of it as foxes ran rampant around the forest nearby. But then they found the mutilated red fox that ate the goose, then the wolf that ate the fox. But then they found the head of a man, all on the day of her birth.

The people of her town were superstitious and as a result they shunned her family. Surely they had done something wrong and they were being punished by the divine beings above them. Her father lost his work in the mines and her mother could no longer sell the jewelry and clothes she made. The boys would tease Gobbet by pulling at her red hair and laughing at her matching scarlet eyes. They threw mud onto her favorite dresses and tossed her favorite purple ribbon into the dirt before stomping on it. The adults of the village did nothing, while the little girls just ran away from her. Her mother would kiss her head and show Gobbet her necklace. The green stone soothed her and she was content, until her mother died. She cried everyday, bitterly weeping into the little river in front of the forest. Her father held her when she told him of her visions. He would hug her and play with the rock now slung around her neck. She tried to warn people, but all she saw was death, and that scared them. In the eye of the village they were cursed.

When she turned six she saw something. Moving shadows in the woods came out into the open by her house. They did nothing but stare at the cluster of huts before roaring and galloping back into the trees. She saw a woman come out soon afterward. She had long golden hair that burned into a color Gobbet could not describe. She was beautiful.

"They are coming!" The woman cried. Gobbet did not heed the woman's declaration. She could only stare at the lady's eyes. They were red. Gobbet unconsciously reached up to her own eyes before returning to reality when the woman's shouts turned to screams. That shadows had come out again and were dragging the woman away into the darkness of the settling night. The last rays of sunlight dragged over the crown of the woman's head, glinting yellow before being engulfed in black. One shadow stayed behind, it's mouth opened in a sickening grin. Jagged teeth and slanted eyes surrounding crimson was all Gobbet could see before the creature disappeared.

She blinked, it was daytime and she was still standing in front of the forest. Then she saw it. Movement, glinting bloody eyes watched her from in the leaves. The edge of the woods was sunny but the depths were inky and dark, except for those eyes. She ran to tell the village people, her dad, everyone. But like Cassandra she was condemned by the ignorance of man.

Her father was ill and could not be bothered to leave. Gobbet pleaded with him, but he was bedridden. Finally she just snuggled into the blankets and lay down with him, clutching her mother's necklace. She and her father fell asleep, his breathing raspy, her small hand swallowed by his large calloused one. Death came upon the village that night. The shadows spilled out of an abandoned mine in the belly of the land, devouring people and taking their precious gems. Gobbet's father snuck out of bed to peer out his window. Her little hand slipped out of his as he watched the attack in horror. He let out a cough before waking his daughter and moving into their basement pulling her down under the rug and dresser before latching the door. An inhuman shriek pierced the night as their front door was smashed in. The dark shapes ripped apart their house, the dresser above them thoroughly searched then knocked over. Then everything was quiet.

Gobbet's eyes widened when she saw a face sink through the floor. The rest of the shadow's body fell from the darkness around them into the cracked moonlight coming in through the slats of the floorboards. Her father was brave and hacking up a lung though he was he brandished a pickaxe in front of him with vigor as he stood in front of his daughter. Gobbet could not let him die for her, the reason why her family suffered. She charged the shadow, her necklace swinging wildly around her neck amidst her father's distraught cries for her to stop. The shadow paused, its smile widened even more if possible, but instead of attacking it roared. The other creatures slipped down between the wood and surrounded the two humans. The lead shadow pointed to her necklace before choking out a word.

"Ka-kaween," it stuttered before raising its arms. Gobbet's father came up behind her, settling his big hand on her shoulder with the other still holding his makeshift weapon. "Kaween" it tried again. Gobbet ran her fingers over the gem of the necklace before turning to her father. "Kaween Barolll" it rumbled.

"What is it saying?" Her voice was scared and so young.

"Your mother made that necklace from an unidentified rock I found in one of the mines around here," her father said carefully. "I think it recognizes it from somewhere."

Another shadow stepped forward before trying its hand.

"Q-Q-queeeeeeen Berrollll," it murmured before drawing a crown in the dirt floor, the dust rising into the silver light. It reached out gently, touching the necklace before drawing away from her quickly. "For-forgiiiiiiive," it whimpered, cringing away when Gobbet's father drew her closer to him. She watched it with interest. It was afraid of her, it was at her mercy.

"Father," her voice was different, assertive. She made her way out of his grasp. "I think I am their Queen."

"Beryl," her father cut in before turning to cough away from her. He was still scared and she could see the fear in him. The monsters hissed at his words, annoyed that he would dare correct their mistress.

"Enough," Gobbet snapped. "If I am to be your queen you will treat my father with respect!" The shadows bowed and stuttered one word apologies. Her hand clenched around the stone resting on her throat. She liked this feeling, this power.

"Gobbet, dear." The monsters hissed again at the name before recoiling under her glare. She turned her attention to her father.

"Yes, daddy?"

"We have nothing left. We should go with them."

"I think you're right."

No one noticed but her father. Gobbet went into that basement as a terrified little girl, her hands and feet small, her body too slight to leave any impressions on the floor. But when she left, Gobbet became Queen Beryl. A woman watched the event with bliss. She had much in store for this girl.

*()*()*()*

This is just a quick write up I did. This is kind of preceding the next chapter, and I figured I'd post it. This was for my own benefit in order to give Beryl a history, but I think it'd be better if I gave you guys the same advantage, so here you go, sorry it's so short!


	9. New Beginnings

"Please, get up," Quatre pleaded. His hands gripped at his goggles as they slipped down the front of his head. But he was not the leader, and the Solar Royalty knew this.

"Explain what happened," Heero grunted, turning away from the bowing people in front of him. Usagi's head shot up.

"We will try our best to explain, uh, Heero?" She whispered uncertainly.

"Yeah, that's my name," he frowned at them.

"This is going to get super confusing, man," both Duos groaned. They glared at each other.

"This isn't such a difficult thing to figure out. We will go by our given Earth titles! I mean, it's only fair, this is their home," Quatre spoke up, straightening himself as his shuddering gasps subsided. He was rising up as a new man and he would not let his mother die without reason. He would do his best to make this work and he would be damned if he let confusion of names override their success.

"Earth titles?" Duo parroted. "Oh, you mean like when people call me Eros, handsome winged messenger of love?" He asked, striking a pose as he pursed his lips. "That girl, Psyche, was totally into me."

"Actually, I was thinking about you more on the lines of Aphrodite," Rei said, mockingly. "It seems much more fitting. I think Eros might just be a little too manly for you." Duo stuck his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, man. I was just saying the truth." He kissed his almost pitiful arm muscle. The other Duo chuckled.

"Okay, dude. You're going to have to do something about that. See this?" He punctuated himself by flexing, causing stars to appear in Usagi and Makoto's eyes. Minako was too disturbed by how similar he and her brother were, and both Rei and Ami were just uninterested. "Do you know how to handle weaponry? Well, besides you, uh, Wufei number two?" Duo continued.

"I am second to no one," Wufei hissed, his hair raised and a blade of fire began flickering into existence.

"Whoa, okay. This is getting a little out of hand. Wufei, you are just going to have to go by Ares. Trowa, you will be called Zeus. Heero, you will be Hermes, and Duo, does Aphrodite sound okay?" Quatre tried out.

"No, Aphrodite is _not_ okay!" Duo replied.

"Everyone is going by their family name," Trowa deadpanned. "Why would you be called anything different?"

"Aphrodite is a girl's name! On Earth, Aphrodite was depicted as a naked _woman_. No way am I going to reply to that." Duo stuck his nose up in finality.

"So, Aphrodite, how are you doing?" Rei snickered. Duo's head snapped back.

"See? This is not going to work."

"Right, because Eros is so much better," The other Duo snorted. Eros hissed, pointing two fingers threateningly in Duo's face.

"I could beam you to Venus right now, and then we wouldn't have to worry about this identity crisis."

"Okay, Eros, it is." Duo chortled.

~[](*)[]~

"We don't really know how it started," Usagi sighed. Her voice quaking as she thought about the devastation. She sipped the cup of tea Quatre offered, the red teacup clashing with his pink shirt. He awkwardly took the spot next to the Lunarian Prince, who was still just as shaken as his sister.

"Everything was normal until a couple months ago. In fact, Usagi and Mamoru were scheduled to get married next month," Minako put in.

"Do they really need to know so much?" Hermes hissed, his eyes still distrusting in spite of past events.

"Who's Mamoru?" Heero shoved in, just as knowledgeable of how important this information could be. The look-alikes glared at each other, both gazes challenging.

"Hee—uh, Hermes, if we're going to work alongside them we have to trust them. They will have to know everything," Usagi cautioned, aware of how volatile Hermes was.

"I agree," Apollo said quickly, effectively cutting off Hermes' arguments against the decision. He would not let the Mercurian's stubbornness compromise their shaky alliance with the pilots.

"Fine," The Hermesian grumbled, his usually keen sense shot down by the reason behind their words.

"Mamoru, or Endymion I supposed, is the Prince of the Earth and master of Elysion alongside his parents. He and I were, well, betrothed," Usagi offered.

"Was this forced?" Quatre asked, trying to learn more about the situation.

"No, in fact, they were going against many laws to be together," Makoto sighed romantically. "They really love each other." She batted her eyelashes at Quatre, who coughed awkwardly, blushing as he eyed her skimpy attire.

"Yes, it most definitely not forced," Zeus said as he placed himself between his sister and the embarrassed blonde. Minako watched with interest as Apollo's grip tightened around his sobbing sister. Her gaze tightened focus as she watched Apollo send Zeus a warning but relieved stare.

"I may have an idea as to how this began," Ami spoke up. Everyone turned to look at her eyes wide. "The name Beryl is not completely unfamiliar to us," she started, her voice low.

"You mean the witch who started the rebellion down on Earth?" Duo snarled, his emotional nature amplified by the recent downfall of the reigning Moon Kingdom.

"The very same," Ami replied. "I found it pertinent to look up the woman who was spearheading the campaign against our Alliance."

"But no one could find information on her in the Lunar library," Apollo said.

"No one thought they would get this far, do you really think they looked hard enough?" Ami asked, her tone disdainful as she thought about the half-assed attempt by a small portion of the patronizing investigation squad. A particularly snobby sector who didn't believe in the power of the Senshi or the Elysion citizens. "In the fiction reserves of the Hermesian library, and I'm sure, the Lunar library, I found a book of Terran tales. One of which centers around a gem of 'brilliance.' Beryl was a coveted stone in a small corner of Elysion with a believed ability to enhance good luck. However, there is a case in which the name Beryl spelled terror for a small village named Aldrent," Ami drifted off, trying to recall all the details of the story she had come across.

"What happened?" Usagi asked, curiosity and anxiety imbued in her voice.

"Nearly every villager disappeared, everything of worth was taken."

Quiet filled the room.

"What if it was just raiders? If no one survived and the houses were stripped of any royalties, then invaders would be a viable option," Trowa said, breaking the silence.

"The village was surrounded by a circle of Beryl stone. Witness accounts from other settlings nearby spoke of a darkness that suddenly engulfed Aldrent's typical fires and lights. They said they heard screams, but the impermeable shadows muffled the noises almost as soon as they broke through. When the neighboring towns went to investigate, no blood was found. No signs of a battle, only of an attack," The blue haired genius drew a breath. "When they located the circle of stones, they didn't know what it was."

"Wasn't it really important to them though? How could they not recognize it?" Minako said, her eyes sharp as she tried to make sense of how the story connected to the woman she hated.

"The Beryl recognized as lucky, and the only Beryl they felt the need to recognize was of a pure clear color. Not like the large green, red, blue, and yellow monoliths they found in the forest. There were also reports of a small family that was seen in the forest and by an old mining cave, but the civilians could never talk to them."

"A family? From the village?" Rei asked, speaking for the first time since they sat down.

"Yes, a group of three. A woman with long strange hair, a scruffy man, and a young girl, both women were known to have glinting red eyes. There are other rumors of the young girl who was also said to appear alone by the river before the tragedy occurred. Their presence eventually turned into myths and was recorded into the book. The family of red eyes became the story parents told their children to keep them from misbehaving."

The room went quiet.

"She had red eyes. Disturbing red eyes," Usagi said. "So they are one and the same."

"But it's just a story, are you sure they're the same person?" Minako asked.

"The monoliths still surround the place the village stood, if you were to look at them," Ami reached into her subspace pocket and drew out a painting. "You would see that they look somewhat familiar to you."

Minako reached out, her hands shaking. She took in the devastated picture the artist captured, her fingers gripping the frame as she stared at the haunting rock formation that surrounded the castle the night of the attack.

"Besides, we cannot afford to dismiss the fact that shadows were also a prominent aspect of the story. We have fought those shadows, we cannot deny their existence. The most logical explanation is that our Beryl, and the girl in this story are one and the same," Ami said, her shoulders rigid. She looked Minako in the eye, "We cannot deny that the people we love have been consumed by those same shadows, and that this Beryl has not laid waste to our land with these monoliths like she did with her home."

"What now? We know who she is, so how do we fight her?" Apollo asked, his will to fight strong.

"Well first, you have to work out, man. You deal out magic like nobody's business, but what else can you do?" Duo asked, his voice laced with sarcasm as he eyed the slim figures of the royalty. "You look like you're on a diet, or like skinny boy band members."

"Excuse me?" Ares asked. "You treat us like we're idiots, but I bet we could beat you, one on one." Duo smirked in reply.

"We'll take you on that bet."

~[](*)[]~

"I don't know what you got us into, Ares, but it doesn't look so bright."

The declaration of no magic had rendered the Planetary men essentially helpless. The weapons they used were created, strengthened, and controlled by magic, all they had were their fists, they were not prepared. Ares and Wufei faced off first, the unspoken agreement to a fight between doppelgangers leaving the planetary princes at a slight disappointment.

Bent on honor as he was, Wufei relieved himself of his blade before taking off his jacket and jumping lightly, stretching his arms and flexing his muscles. He cracked his neck and settled into a comfortable position. He waited silently, looking at the man across the way.

Ares stared him down, his hair drifting in and out of his eye sight as the wind blew around the open courtyard. He stretched quickly before poising himself. He heard Duo snicker off to the side, the Terran joined by the Venusian standing next to him, both laughing at the seriousness and strange wardrobe of the opposing Wufei. He glared at them before facing his opponent once more. "Are you ready yet?" He asked.

"Are you?" Wufei replied, his eyes following the slightly wary movement of Ares' feet.

"Don't play games," was the angry reply, as the speaker shot forward. Ares was fast, and pissed. He landed hits, while the much stronger Wufei blocked them. Surprised by the force with which Wufei deflected him, Ares sped up. He swung his arms harder, clenched his fists tighter as he punched and kicked, eventually the need to outrun his opponent did him in. Distracted and frustrated by the lack of improvement, Ares tired, Wufei took advantage of a mislaid punch by grabbing his arm and spinning underneath the smaller boy, throwing him. Ares crashed to the ground. With a cry of alarm, Rei ran toward her brother, as did the small girl standing nearby. "He's fine," the purple clad Senshi said. "No where near death, he'll just be a bit bruised. Perhaps you could heal him," she suggested, looking at Apollo. The battle had been brutal, lacking the finesse of the fights they usually partook in. The others looked on, shocked by the outcome.

True to his powers, Ares was the most firey, and true to his name, he was the most brutal in battle. Hermes was cold, calculating, his attacks spiteful and stinging as he took advantage of weakness, harsh like the ice he fought with. Zeux was simple, quickly and sharply, like the strikes of lightning; the leading stroke preparing for the dangerous aftermath and the recurring dart leaders that came off the attack. Eros was fluid, like the energy he possessed and manipulated; his movement as smooth as he believed his womanizing abilities to be. Apollo, the biggest proponent of magic and peace was a tentative fighter. Dependant on his friends, he did little but whack about blindly and use his punishing powers to finish the job his lackluster attempts barely began.

"It's my turn now," Hermes said, stepping forward. Heero grunted in reply. Hermes was no fool, he knew he was not stronger or faster than his opponent, he was, however, smarter. He had a chance, not a big one, but enough to try without a devastating end. The beginning was much duller than it had been for the first fight. The men sized each other up, their behavior emphasized by the lack of movement on both sides. This battle was mental, they were going to try to outsmart each other. Heero had size and strength to his benefit, his concerns were with eliminating any way Hermes could deal attacks to him. Eliminate the offense, get behind the defense, do not let the smartass Hermesian find weakness. The start of the battle itself was as fast as the beginning was slow. They both moved at the same time, Hermes trying to keep tabs on Heero's movements. They followed each other, both taking the same roads as their thought processes were almost exactly the same. Then they diverted, Hermes watched Heero's muscles as they moved, more muscle, more mass to hit, more to damage. Hermes laid waste to the bulkier version of himself by pushing forward in the attack. Where Heero had air to hit, Hermes had firm muscle to attack. Quickly, Heero caught onto Hermes' strategy and moved back, before attacking again, this time taking full advantage of his strength by locking Hermes with his arms and overwhelming the Mercurian genius. Hermes wound around, his fists hitting tactically before giving into the superior physicality of Heero. He didn't say it, and he didn't lift his hand in surrender, but Heero let go and it was clear who had won the fight. Hermes joined the group on the side, pointedly standing away from Rei as he settled down to watch Eros try his hand.

"Eh, me? Nah, I'll just grab something to eat instead." Eros tried out, as he tried to sidle away.

"You scared, bro?" Duo asked, teasing Hermes into a position to fight him. Hermes didn't give in.

"Nah, I'm good, seriously. Food sounds great right about now, think you could whip something up, Makoto?" Eros asked, his non committal behavior handily brushing off the taunts. He never saw the first punch coming.

Duo's first fist met his face, and then they just kept falling. Eros shouted indignantly before dealing back a few of his own. The fight turned out to just be a scuffle where both boys punched the shit out of each other. Eros' typical smooth fashion lost in the barbaric pace. Eros' lighter blows glanced off of Duo's toned body, proving a point as Eros's body gave out under the weight of the victor. It was fast, they just whaled on each other, and then they stopped, Eros breathing hard and barely staunching his bloody nose and black eye. Both stood up before laughing heartily and smacking each other on the back. Eros's body swayed when Duo hit his arm, and Duo steadied him before setting him off to the side. He slid up to Ami and nudged her with his elbow.

"You know, I'm stronger than I look, but well, I do look pretty strong, eh?" Duo flexed and winked at the unimpressed blue haired girl.

"Uh huh," she replied, expression deadpan, her eyes elsewhere. Duo rolled his eyes and kept at it, badgering the girl as she tried to stare anywhere but at the man's attractive face.

Trowa and Zeus made their way to their respective positions without a word. Their fight was brief and as concise as their words. They both laid punches and they both separated, walking away without saying a word. Getting in and out of the fight almost immediately, Zeus, the closest in physical strength to the person he fought walked over to the others, not even motioning to have his wounds tended to. Minako settled in between him and Eros, her head leaning on his shoulder as she held a napkin to the drying blood at her brother's nose.

"Apollo?" Quatre asked. The poor boy looked up in reply, eyes wide and an already exhausted look on his face.

"He's been healing them, he's tired. Let me fight you first," Makoto said, stepping forward. The biggest of the girls, she moved away from the group where she'd started to place some magic made ice onto Trowa's cheek.

"I will not harm a woman," Quatre declared. "No disrespect, but I do now wish to fight you."

"No disrespect?" Makoto asked, laughing. "Just fight me, I'm no amateur."

"Please understand me, Quatre pushed a little more, I'd much rather fight him, than you," he motioned to Apollo first, then Makoto second. Makoto snorted, affronted, before walking up to Quatre and drawing a fist back. He caught her hand and spun her around so that her back was to his chest. His arms tight, he held her. "I wouldn't want to hurt a lovely lady like you. Sorry for the manhandling, I couldn't help myself." he whispered before gently pushing her away. Nephrite banished from her mind as soon as she felt the muscles that Quatre displayed in the pink shirt he wore. The 'feminine' colour doing nothing to downplay his masculinity and she watched him walk to the other men in his crew.

"As clearly shown here, you have to work on your physical prowess, it will help you become faster and stronger, and thus, you will be able to fight more affectively," Quatre spoke up. His voice tight as he wrung his hands together, his gaze locked onto the less than pleasant look of the only man who didn't fight.

"I will fight you now," Apollo demanded, standing. His exasperated expression and previous lack of energy suddenly gone.

Quatre looked at him quizzically for a moment before shrugging and walking back onto the grounds again. "Let's start then." Apollo ran toward Quatre, his poor fighting ability making itself clear, in seconds, Quatre had Apollo on the ground. "You have no experience with hand to hand combat and the urgency of a battle where you cannot withstand one shot. We will train you, and we will help you to the best of our abilities." His eyes ran over Apollo and landed on Makoto. "This I promise."

LOLOL HELLO. SO. HOW ARE YOU?

…Yeah, no excuses, but look, a new bit, and new old bits! So yeah, kbye.


	10. Henshin Boy

CRACK PAIRING INVOLVED. I JUST USED IT FOR MY OWN PURPOSES BUT NOW I ACTUALLY THINK IT'S KINDA CUTE BUT YOU KNOW. WHAT EVS.

"Hey, Lita? Do you think you could make me a couple pies? You know, the delicious kind?" Serena's voice was pleading, huge watery eyes taking over her face as she watched for a positive reaction. The effort wasn't wasted, Lita easily crumbled and nodded.

"Of course, do I make any other sort of pies?" Lita winked, before walking a little ahead of the kindhearted girl.

"Serena, you're going to get fat if you keep eating like this. With no monsters to fight, it looks like you've been putting on a couple pounds," Rei said. She looked Serena up and down. "Yup, definitely have." Reaching out, she poked Serena's stomach, and pulled her pigtails inciting a raspberry to the face. Quickly the exchange dissolved into puffed up cheeks and overall angry expressions, but the others, used to the process, just kept walking. After a couple more blocks and a few 'stop hitting each other' iterations from Amy, the group finally made it to the Crown Arcade. Settling down in a booth, Amy pulled out a book and began to read, the content not to her usual practical taste.

"Fairytales, Amy?" Mina asked. Her expression confused as she sat next to her blue haired friend. Amy's reply was only to slide her gaze over to Mina's face before raising an eyebrow and returning to the pages of her current story. "Well, I mean, most of the time you read books with content I can't understand without a dictionary handy, sometimes even with one. What's with the new look? Usually all we see from this side is a medical book and your hair. It looks nice today, by the way, I don't know if you know this, Amy, but your hair always looks good on Thursdays."

"Oh really?" Amy laughed as she put her book on the table, her finger still marking the page. "That's strange, I thought today was Saturday."

"Yeah, Saturday too," Mina replied. "I take that back, it looks spectacular every day." Amy chuckled at Mina's response.

"Well I'm glad, considering I don't really do much but brush it every morning," she said with a smile, her hand bringing the book back up into her view. "Even though you didn't seem too interested, I'll explain why I'm reading a book that isn't exactly the most relative to my curriculum," Amy said, her expression teasing. "You see, this is more geared towards our futures as Senshi. I've noticed that a lot of our story has been at least minutely detailed in mythology; or fairytales as you call them." Mina blushed at Amy's words.

"Well, you know, I saw the beautiful couple and the old timey clothing. It didn't look anything like what Lita has on her bookshelf, and bam, gut reaction was that it was a fairytale." Mina's gesticulations caught the eyes of several people, including Lita and Rei who were walking back to the table with food and drinks. Quickly enough, the attention was diverted by their friend screaming at the Sailor V video game. Serena slumped to the table, looking the slightest bit deflated as she began to slurp her strawberry milkshake.

"What are you talking about?" Rei asked.

"About what book Amy's reading and how it doesn't look like the romance club in Lita's closet," Mina said.

"You read them all the time, don't even act like I'm the only one touching those books! Even Rei reads them!"

"I do not!" Rei said, face flushing before she breathed out. "Okay, maybe a couple times." Lita crossed her arms and looked at Mina triumphantly.

"Relax, definitely not saying it's a bad thing," Mina said, waving her hands in an innocent fashion.

"Guys?" Amy's voice piped up tentatively. "You might want to look at this."

She laid the book down on the table, the thick covers pulling the pages apart. She trailed her finger across the title on the yellowed page.

"The Battle of the Gods?"

"I read it, it's about us, it has to be. There's more too, a sequel." Ami turned numerous pages before settling on the right one.

"When the Gods fell?"

~[](*)[]~

The boys were all resting after their spats, eyeing each other. Once or twice, Ares had thrown out the idea that if they'd had magic then his twin would have met his doom. After Rei pointed out that the point of their fight was to disregard magic, he settled down. Instead he sat and flicked his wrist to feel the comfort of his blade in his hand.

"Could you put that away? I'd much rather not set our house on fire," Heero snapped. The sudden guests (intruders) and the waste Hermes had laid to his muscles draining his energy. Ares did nothing but glare in reply, but he dismissed his sword when Apollo looked at him pleadingly.

"Oi, do you have a feeling we're forgetting something?" Duo asked, his finger in his ear before he examined his finds and flicked them away.

"We have yet to make decisions regarding our future," Hermes replied, his eyes cold as he challenged Heero's role of authority. Heero was not master here, not in Hermes's mind.

"Not that, not that it's not important, but I'm talking about something here. I mean, you did kind of just dump in on us," Duo replied.

"Relena," Trowa muttered.

"Relena?" Wufei rolled around in his head. "The ball," he said finally.

"A ball? Like a royal ball? Oh how exciting!" Minako exclaimed, clapping her hands. She overdid it, the others could tell it was a little contrived as she was eager to think about anything but the tragedy that had occurred.

"Not quite like that, I don't think," Ami said.

"Well, it is actually a lot like that," Quatre replied. "We're actually supposed to bring people with us, but I don't think we'll be able to contact anyone this short notice."

"Are you an idiot?" Rei asked. Hotaru snickered before coughing to cover up her snort.

"Rei's right, you know. You are talking with a surplus of women, you know," Hotaru said.

"Hey, hey, ladies, no need to be so hurtful with your words," Duo drawled. "There's enough of me to go around, don't you worry. Quatre here is just a little, on the other side if you know what I mean."

"Excuse me?" Quatre sputtered. "Just because I am feminine doesn't mean that I'm gay."

"Yo, dude, that's exactly what it means," Eros poked. Quatre and Apollo both looked at him.

"That is incredibly judgmental of you," Apollo sniffed. "After all, Motoki is gay and he's very masculine."

"Motoki?" Heero asked.

"A well-known warrior from the moon," Makoto supplied quietly. "I dated him for a while, actually, before he told me that he liked guys. He was stuck in an engagement with a noble from Venus, but I hope he's still alive. He told me he was really starting to like a man he'd met from Mars." She looked meaningfully over at Rei and Wufei.

"Whoa, you mean Yuichiro?" Rei asked, somewhat incredulous. "He wouldn't stop mooning over me. Are you sure that Motoki was right about how Yuichiro felt?"

"I found them making out in my garden," Makoto deadpanned. "I had to shoo them out, hopefully they didn't do anything more than that on my hydrangea."

"Yes, because that was the first thing you thought of after seeing those two boys going at it," Usagi winked. The mood lightened as they gossiped about Motoki's tumultuous love life.

"Back on topic, though, please," Ami cut in, blushing at the thought of the two handsome men enjoying each other's company. "What to do about this ball? As we mentioned there are a surplus of women, and well, only five boys to accompany."

"Actually, four, He-man is with the most esteemed Lady Relena tonight," Duo said, nudging Heero in the ribs.

"We don't have clothes ready either," Quatre said. "I have several tuxes, but I don't think they'll really fit anyone else but myself, and I know none of you, maybe Trowa, have any on hand."

"Well, we could help with that," Luna piped up.

"THE CAT! IT SPOKE!" Duo yelped.

"Out of everything that has happened today, the thing that made you scream was the cat?" Wufei asked, before smacking his forehead with his palm. Luna rolled her eyes.

"The planetary royalty are in our care, of course we can talk," she said haughtily, her tail swishing.

"Well, on that note, we can help by using our powers to give you henshin pens," Diana squeaked.

"Will they be able to use them?" Ami asked, curiously pulling out her mini-computer to analyze their magic capacity. Her eyes widened as she looked at the results before she snapped the device shut.

"We'll never know until we try!" Artemis said before leaping up and twisting in the air, a green pen materializing in the air before dropping into Trowa's lap. Artemis looked at the boy from his place next to him on the couch. "Think of what you want to look like, and then yell "Henshin!"" Artemis suggested. Trowa looked at him and then the pen, blankly.

"You're serious?" Trowa asked; his eyes narrowing as he spotted Duo snickering at the thought.

"Go on, just think of a nice suit or a tuxedo, whatever you want!"

"Do I have to yell "henshin?"" Trowa asked.

"Uh, I suppose the yelling is optional, but what's it going to do if you don't let it know you need to use it?" Luna said.

"Hop to it, Henshin-Boy!" Duo said, arms crossed as he watched gleefully.

"You're going to have to say it too, I hope you know," Zeus said, trying to stick up for his dopple-ganger.

"Anything I want?" Trowa clarified.

"Yup," Luna said.

"Can we get on with this, then?" Ares bit out.

"Henshin," Trowa grunted. A flash of green light and muscular silhouette later, an intimidating version of Trowa appeared, riddled with tattoos and piercings, wearing nothing but black leather and spiked jewelry. Duo coughed awkwardly. After staring Duo down for a little bit, Trowa muttered "henshin" once more and came out the other end with a clean tuxedo with a black bow tie.

"That works really well, we each get one?" Quatre asked. "I mean, I do have tuxes here, but I really wouldn't mind having one," he murmured.

"Of course, Quatre," Luna smiled at him, his kind nature reminding her very much so of her own prince. She quickly leaped over him, the silver pen landing in his outstretched hands.

"The party is three hours from now and we're disgusting, so I suggest we all shower." Heero said before walking off.

"Wait! We have to decide who's going and who's not!" Minako said.

"I'm going with Relena, so you have to sort that out amongst yourselves, I'll be in my bathroom." And with that, Heero turned his back and walked up the stairs.

"Your henshin pen!" Diana chased him, unafraid of the cool demeanor he exuded.

Quiet settled over the room as everyone sat, listening to Heero's shower turn on and Diana's indignant squeaks as she clawed at the door. Usagi stood and opened her mouth.

"I wan—."

"Odango can't go," Rei said quickly.

"What? Why?" Usagi whined, before sitting down and pouting.

"She's right, Usagi," Ami said. "Your hair is too memorable and we don't want to put you in unnecessary danger."

"And your hair isn't?" Duo asked, "Not that I mind, it's hot, I call dibs on you." Hermes and Eros shot the boy looks.

"While I will not acknowledge these dibs, I have to say that I am curious to get out and see what's happening in regards to the world you live in."

"Totally a yes," Duo smirked, winking at his disgruntled doppelganger.

"Well, then who else is going with who?" Ami asked, disregarding Duo's unnecessary commentary.

Everyone awkwardly shuffled as they tried to avoid answering before Minako huffed. She leveled a finger with Quatre's face.

"You with Mako, I'll go with Trowa so I can talk for him, Rei, uh, you don't want to go with Wufei, do you?" Minako asked, prepared for the look Rei gave her.

"You're an idiot, I'll just stay here. I need to see if the fire will yield any information to me anyway."

"Uh, Hotaru, you okay with coming with?" Minako asked, looking the girl up and down, "or do you need to talk to Setsuna?"

"No, I can go, but he looks like he's actually about to pass out."

And pass out he did.

"What's wrong with him? Is he okay?" Quatre asked, dashing over to his fallen comrade while Apollo knelt by his side.

"Ami? What's wrong with him?" Usagi asked.

"We never fully addressed his injuries, Zeus shocked him before and then we fought, he's probably still feeling the aftereffects of the electricity," Ares put in, before Ami could answer.

"But pretty boy over there was healing him," Duo motioned to Apollo.

"Yes, but the process got interrupted. He probably still has some tissue damage."

"How has he been going through all this time? He needs bed rest and lots of healing," Ami asked.

"If he's anything like Ares over there, he's stubborn as hell," Rei said, thinking about how alike the two were aside from the appearance.

"Well he can't go to the ball like this. What do we do?" Apollo asked, concerned as he went back to work on Wufei's injuries.

"I can go."

Everyone turned to look at the boy, trying to see if they were hearing him correctly.

"I said I can go," Ares mumbled, his hand reaching for the tie in Wufei's hair. He quickly slicked his back and whipped a ponytail together. After his youthful haircut was swept out of his face, he looked even more like the boy he'd unintentionally incapacitated.

"Are you sure? You don't know our customs and you certainly don't have an outfit for a ball."

"I have a henshin, I don't need a pen, unlike you, but I can change into whatever I want," Ares replied.

"Can he really do that?" Makoto whispered to Rei.

"If he can, I had no idea, I'm not exactly the type to ask my brother when or where he gets his clothes," she whispered back.

"Good point," Makoto hissed, before straightening back up, making awkward eye contact with the male fire wielder.

"We _are_ in the same room," he said.

"Fine. If we can't see where you come from, you might as well get some information about us," Heero's voice echoed from the stairs, his puffy semi blow-dried hair and fluffy robe making him look less intimidating than ever. Diana peeked out from behind one of his legs.

"I gave him his henshin wand!" She squeaked, before running down to settle between her parents.

"I think you've been dubbed this year's Henshin Boy," Eros breathed. "Congratulations, you will receive your tiara promptly and your flowers will be in your room by the end of the night."

~[](*)[]~

"Hurry up, we can't afford to be late or Relena won't be properly protected," Heero growled, knocking on Ares's door.

"Fuck off, I'm not sure I asked for the right thing," Ares replied. "I asked for typical ball attire, but it looks nothing like what we wear to our balls, so I think I may have made a mistake."

"Wow, Wufei admitting he made a mistake. That never happens," Duo commented.

"I am not your Wufei," Ares said as he yanked open the door. "How do you even dance in this? Or better yet, how do you deal with these ridiculous ties around your neck?" He asked.

"Well, we wear capes," Apollo said, scrutinizing Ares's clothing. "Sometimes the more fashionable wear ruffs,"

"And by more fashionable you mean the Venusians," Ares replied. "I am not a Venusian. Besides, our capes fall from our shoulders, not from around our necks."

"It's fine, we have to get accustomed to their style anyway. If it's any consolation, I think you actually look rather dashing," Hotaru commented as she walked past.

"Regardless of whether or not he looks dashing, we must go. Where are the girls? Are they done yet?" Quatre asked Hotaru.

"Well, they've all really just been talking, henshin doesn't take too long at all," she replied. "I'm obviously not exactly dressed for the occasion," she referred to the senshi uniform she still wore.

"Right," Quatre muttered. "Can you ask them if they're ready?"

"Sure, no problem!" Hotaru said, "Ares, seriously, stop freaking out, but since you're wearing a red bowtie against a plain black tux, such a Mars stereotype, I'll have an idea of what to request of my henshin pen."

"Let me guess, something red?" Zeus drawled as he walked over.

"Or something black," Hotaru said as she skipped off. "Or maybe we can just clash."

"Honestly I think people will be surprised that Wu-man's wearing such appropriate stuff anyway. He usually just wears Chinese get up. Not that there's anything wrong with that," Duo said offhandedly. The humor in his comment went unnoticed when Zeus spoke up.

"I was too rash. I shouldn't have shocked him," he said, staring at the ground.

"Well, none of us knew what was happening at the time, besides, I kept my blade to his face and challenged him to a fight. I think that if we're going to think about this too much, I'm going to have to start apologizing as soon as that man wakes up," Ares replied.

"Does anybody know where Rei is?" Usagi asked, "Oh, you look very handsome, Ares," she said politely as she looked him up and down, giving him a genuine smile. For the first time in her memory, he smiled back.

"No idea, sorry!" Duo answered.  
"Actually, she should be in the parlour by the library, she came to me earlier, asking if there were any quiet rooms with fire places," Quatre said, looking kindly at the sweet princess.

"Thank you so much! I'm going to go find her," she said.

"Do you know where the parlour is, Usagi?" Zeus asked, eying his princess uncertainly.

"Um, no, not really," she admitted, looking at her feet.

"I'll accompany you, then," he said.

"But then, you'll miss seeing Minako in her dress!" She whispered to him huffily as he escorted her away.

"It's okay," he said. "I don't think I'll be able to really stand the sight of her looking so beautiful with someone so like me, that isn't me." Usagi looked at him sympathetically. "Besides, I can see her when she gets back."

"If you keep going like this, she'll never notice you," she whispered to him sadly.

"I know, but as long as I keep going like this I'll still be able to care for her, and she won't be uncomfortable." Usagi gauged his expression.

"Never mind what I said. She will notice. I'm sure of it." She said, reaching her hand up to stroke his face before pulling him into a hug. She stepped away again so they could walk.

"Sometimes I really hope so." Neither of them noticed the open door they walked past. Ami stuck her head out of it curiously before glancing back to look at the continuous glow of orange and green light as her two friends henshined over and over. Neither of them seemed to have noticed the conversation the occurred moments before. Unsure of whether or not it was a good thing, she looked over at Hotaru, who shrugged.

~[](*)[]~

As the others talked to Ares about his clothes, Minako, Ami, Rei and Makoto had been sitting in a room, contemplating what to wear.

"I say go with something red, Minako," Rei suggested.

"But that's so Aresian," Minako said, pulling a slight face.

"What's wrong with Aresian?" Reid asked, her expression sour.

"Nothing, just not for me I don't think," she said in reply as she henshined into yet another orange dress. "Ugh, I swear, I've worn all of these before."

"That's because you have," Makoto pointed out. "All I've seen you wear to balls is orange, which is kind of bizarre considering your ridiculous emphasis on fashion."

"It's a Venusian thing," Minako shrugged.

"What's with your emphasis on planetary affiliation?" Rei asked, huffily.

"Eh, it's a Venusian thing."

Rei sighed and stood up. "I'm actually going to go hit up the parlour Quatre's got. He said there's a fireplace in there."

"A parlour? This guy's got a parlour?" Makoto asked. "I mean, we had tons of those but I don't feel like that's exactly commonplace in this day and age."

"I don't know," Rei said, brushing it off. "Stop by before you go out so I can see you guys! I'll look busy but don't worry about it. I'm kind of expecting not to get much out of the fire anyway." With a wave, she took a couple steps. "Red, I'm serious," she impressed, one more time as she walked out the door.

"Ugh, red, really?" Minako asked, as she tried yet another orange dress.

"Why not?" Makoto asked. "I mean, your senshi fuku has a red bow in your hair and you look quite nice with it."

"I suppose." Soon enough the two girls went straight back to changing, stopping only to greet Hotaru as she stepped in the room. After a while, Ami walked over, in a pristine white dress with glittering blue stone detailing and blue open toed heels. Her hair pulled back on one side by a clear blue clip adorned with some thin white feathers, contrasting nicely against her dark hair.

"We have to go soon," Ami said, Hotaru sighing in relief as Makoto and Minako paused to listen. "I'm ready, and Hotaru is too," she gestured to the pretty girl as she spoke. They turned to look at her. She stood in a lacy black dress, Hotaru's hair was in tight curls around her face, her pin straight hair long gone, the most notable aspect of her outfit consisted of her shoes, the purple standing out like her eyes, both colourful points emphasized by her pale skin.

"Well, I'll be darned! Looks like the God of War is about to fall in love with the Mistress of Death and Rebirth! And look out, world! The ice queen is coming for you!" Minako whistled.

"I agree with Minako, you both look stunning!" Makoto said, rushing over to hug her friends.

"Thank you," Ami stuttered; both her face and Hotaru's blushing brightly.

"No problem, but I guess we should hurry then, huh?" Makoto laughed. "Try a red dress, come on, it couldn't hurt!"

"Fine, red dress, here I come!" Minako closed her eyes, "Henshin!" In a swirl of orange light, she spun, her silhouette twirling gracefully. The lights settled and she ran over to the mirror, heels clicking. "Huh, not bad at all!" She said, smiling. Her one shoulder red dress fell Grecian style down her sides, the sheer outer material extending down her arm in a flowing sleeve. Her hair was braided, a series of red flowers woven through the golden locks and a pair of ruby red heels to top off the outfit.

"Not bad? You look beautiful!" Hotaru squealed, jumping up and down as she clapped her hands.

"Ha, Rei's going to rub it in when we see her before we leave," Makoto ribbed. Ami smiled softly as she watched Minako's face pale a little.

"It's your turn, Makoto," Ami said. "What are you thinking?"

"Well, not heels, that's for sure," Makoto laughed, scratching the base of her ponytail as she chuckled weakly.

"Why not?" Minako asked. "Your legs go on for miles! They're longer than any of ours and that's saying something, we've got some nice legs!" Makoto shrugged.

"Eh, don't really want to stand out too much," she replied.

"Uh, excuse me," Quatre's voice came from the door. "I don't mean to startle you but I was on my way to let you know we're leaving in ten minutes. You all look incredibly lovely! I couldn't help but listen in, Makoto, why would you stand out? I think you'd looked great in heels."

Makoto's heart dropped, while he was paying her a compliment, his attention to her footwear put her out a bit. While not all the gay men she knew were into fashion, Yuuichiro and Motoki being prime examples, Quatre fulfilled all the stereotypes. As did her prince for that matter.

"How about this, you get a dress and I'll grab you some shoes!" Quatre's eyes lit up as he turned. "Wait, what colour were you thinking of wearing?"

"Uh, I'm not su—."

"Green!" Minako interrupted her. Quatre nodded.

"Got it! I'll be right back! Don't worry, I'll take care of it! You're about a size 8 I'd wager, that right?"

"Uh, well, I don't really know the measurements you go by here, all our shoes are handmade," Makoto replied.

"I'll bring back a couple sizes, I was going to bring quite a few pairs anyway." And with that, Quatre was off, making phone calls and entering the closets his sisters often left untouched.

"Huh, figures," Makoto sighed.

"What's wrong?" Ami asked, walking over to where the taller girl stood.

"Why is it that the only guys I'm attracted to are gay?" Makoto wailed. First Motoki and now this! I never said it either, but I always thought Quatre, well, our Quatre, was adorable too. He's never shown any signs of attraction to any girls I can think of. Plus, well, he's incredibly feminine." Makoto looked at her audience, they all stared at her. "What? Anything to say? No, 'no way, Makoto' or 'yeah, I agree.'" She stiffened when she heard an awkward cough from behind her. Turning toward the door she cringed a bit when she saw Apollo staring at her back.

"Uh, you all look nice," he stuttered out before disappearing.

"Well, shit."

~[](*)[]~

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